Lingering Fragments
by Askani Blue
Summary: Nothing is ever gone and sometimes masks are as real as the faces behind them. LinkxSheik Post OoT and Majora's Mask.
1. Prologue

Author's Notes: Yes, this deals with a Link/Sheik, but, no it is not AU in the least. Though my memories of Termina are a little fuzzy I have worked rather hard to make this as canon as possible (if only my N64 controller would help out a little). This is my first try at first person PoV, but an author coughWynacough recently showed me how well it can be done. She also seriously raised the bar for all fanfiction for me. Please be gentle. lol

If you haven't already guessed, this is shonen ai. If you flame me, me and my friends will just make fun of you so... please do. :D 

Prologue

Epona bumped me with her head as I waited for the gates of Hyrule to lower. Just before sunset a royal messenger had found us at Lake Hylia. Apparently Zelda had some need of me and I was to come to the palace as soon as possible, so, like the dutiful "hero" I am, I rode through the night to reach the gates just before dawn. 

As it was nearly lowered, I stepped up onto it and glanced back at Epona. "Don't get lost. I shouldn't be too long," I said in joking admonishment and she snorted back at me indignantly. With a chuckle, I jogged into the market place as if I hadn't been up the whole night riding.

The castle rose up before me a few moments later, and, unlike in my childhood, I was granted the pleasure of walking in through the front doors ('drier this way,' I joked to myself). Without so much as a nod, guards stepped to the side or opened doors for me as I passed into the most private areas of the palace. A luxury granted to the favorite swordsman of the princess, though no one knew just why I held that title.

"Zelda?" I called as I wrapped my knuckles against the door, curious to hear what new task she had for me. It wasn't that I disliked helping her; it was more that I often felt more like a glorified go-fer rather than a hero. No. No, "go-fer" wasn't right either. I felt like a tool. A good tool (I'd never failed her yet) but a tool none-the-less.

A muffled "Enter," replied and I stepped inside.

All and all, she looked very much like she had that day that Ganondorf had been sealed away (that day that hadn't happened but, had at the same time). Resplendent in her royal gown, she greeted me warmly and asked how I was.

Idle chitchat was never my strong suit but I did my best, mentioning the reactive gathering the scientist at lake Hylia was keeping me busy with. She feigned interest, or _was_ interested (you can never tell with people of her position) as I described the latest task of fetching a rare butterfly from the Lost Woods. "But I'm not here for catching up, am I?" I asked finally. She never called for me when there wasn't work to be done, and quite frankly I was getting antsy waiting for her to go through enough banter so that she didn't feel that she was simply ordering me around.  
With a sigh she shook her head. "No, I'm afraid not. I would assign one of my servants to this but I don't think they would succeed. It's an unusual situation," she explained as she lead me to another room.

"Ah, my specialty. I don't know what I'd do with an ordinary assignment," I only half jested. Normal things were something I had never been good at and that hadn't changed with the years.

Zelda nodded and stopped when we had reached a room I had never seen before. "Yesterday a raven flew in through that window. It was enormous; the guards watching the walkway below said it was nearly as large as a man. When it left it had with it a very old relic of the royal family," she explained and when she saw my expression darken she quickly waved off my concerns. "It's nothing extremely dire. It stole the Weathervane, an old artifact that can change the weather."

"Now, of course the ocarina can do that," she continued as she paced to the window. "But the Weathervane is more sustained. Unlike the Ocarina you need only set it to a certain weather type and all of Hyrule is affected. Still, the effects would take some time to cause real damage. Snow would damage crops, but the warmth of the summer earth would make it hard to stay, rain could flood but as its not been raining much it would take some time of rain to reach that point. Regardless, I can combat any ill weather to an extent with the Ocarina until the Vane is found."

I nodded and waited to hear more about this raven, but instead was treated to a speech about the Weathervane's history: who made it, who used it in times of great need, and I'm sure a few mentions about particularly gifted polishers snuck in there. She also went on about the room in general which was filled with various items that were all priceless (as she said this very thing).

Unconsciously I shifted on my feet and fiddled with pouch on my belt as I tried, but failed to keep my attention focused on what she was saying. Honestly, did I need to know this? I didn't think so. I was fairly certain that a simple "The raven went that way," would have been very sufficient.

...Zelda obviously felt otherwise.

Thankfully she had her back to me as she pointed out something that the maker of the vane had also made, so she didn't see me looking around for something vaguely interesting. I was actually contemplating whether she would notice it if I slipped out the door when my eyes fell upon something unexpected. There coiled up neatly, was the face wrap that Zelda had worn as part of her "Sheik" disguise.

The princess's diatribe on the Vane was completely drowned out by the rush of memories the little piece of fabric drew up. Tentatively I reached out to run my hand over the white fabric as I recalled my companion and friend in that nightmare... my illusionary friend. It was foolish I knew, to be upset at the masquerade that Zelda had put on. It had been for her protection, but it still stung to know that the only person I had had felt close to in that hell had been only a convenient lie. Unconsciously my hand clenched into a fist around the scarf.

"But I digress," Zelda's voice suddenly broke in and I looked up guiltily, snapping to attention. "The guards said the raven was last seen flying west, towards the Gerudo desert."

I nodded sharply and tuned to leave. "I'll get it back for you as soon as I can."

"As ever, I am in your debt," she said as I headed out.

The palace and the market place were a blur as I stalked out of the city, lost in my memories. Her life had depended on that lie (that much was obvious by how quickly Ganondorf had snatched her up when she'd dropped it). I knew that, I really did, but... After being returned back to my childhood I'd tried to befriend Zelda (she was just Sheik minus the clothes after all) but it hadn't worked at all. Something was missing, something important. It had nothing to do with her clothes or gender, it was something less tangible... unfortunately it was the exact thing that had drawn me to Sheik in the first place. 

As I reached the end of the draw bridge I called for Epona and waved for her to come back over from the patch of tall grass she was nibbling on when I paused mid wave. With a look somewhere between amazement and frustration I saw that in my hand… still… was the scarf. I gave a growl of annoyance at my own foolish actions and Epona snorted at me for it.

How could I have been so mental? I knew that Sheik got me bothered but to steal the damn scarf from Zelda? That was a new low in insanity. With an aggravated sigh, I pushed the scarf into my belt pouch and mounted Epona. "I'll give it back to her later," I told the horse uselessly. I was in no hurry to go back and admit my stupidity just yet. With hope, I would think of some good reason to have taken the scarf and if not... maybe I could put it back without her noticing. It was a shallow hope, but I'd made due on less before.

---

I woke with a start, reaching out for Sheik instinctively. When my hand found only air I blinked and rubbed away the remains of sleep. Slowly reality seeped in and with a groan I fell back into the bedroll. Epona and I were camped on the plateau just outside the Gerudo desert, on our way to find the princess's Weathervane... and Sheik was just a figment of a girl's imagination.

I stared at the sky and began to ask myself if I was really this pathetic, to be clinging to the memory of an imaginary friend after almost a decade, but I decided to squash that thought before it finished. I knew the answer was a resounding "yes" and didn't much want to stare that fact in the face that night.

I'd had some friends over the years; mostly acquaintances but a few friends, like Malon. After Zelda had rolled back time I'd spent time rebuilding friendships with people who didn't remember me, and Malon was one of the successes. Once, for a brief time, I'd even tried a relationship with her, but that had failed spectacularly.

She and I, we just didn't have enough in common. Her years had been spent on the ranch tending to horses and cows and chickens. She hadn't seen enough of the world and her eyes were still wide and innocent after all these years. Completely unlike Sheik's.

Sheik's ruby eyes had been worn, tired, but unyielding. There was no innocence there, but yet they weren't jaded nor hateful. How many nights had those eyes haunted me? They were the difference between him and Zelda, though I couldn't understand it. Idly, I reached out to the belt pouch that held the scarf, and ran my fingers over it.

Zelda's eyes were steady and focused. Not innocent or jaded, but with the broad vision of a leader. When she looked at me I always had the feeling that she was looking at everything else at the same time. Zelda kept her eyes on the big picture, as any good leader should. Those were not Sheik's eyes. Where Zelda's were that of royalty, Sheik's were that of a messenger boy. Someone, anyone that had gotten caught up in something he hadn't planned for nor wanted, but was going onward anyway. Just a kid making the best of the garbage hand he'd been dealt.

...And that was the crux of it. In that steadily worsening nightmare filled with deadly dungeons and murderous villains I'd thought I'd found someone in the same situation as me. Even as little as I saw of him, I depended on that distant support. It had been enough just to know that I wasn't alone ...but I had been, all along. It have shouldn't still ached this badly to know that, I told myself, but it did no good.

With barely a moment's hesitation I drew out the scarf and pulled it close, and I didn't even try to pretend it wasn't pathetic.

---

The next day found me and Epona baking in the desert heat. With a half of a laugh to myself, I gave a little wish that whoever it was that had the Vane would set it to rain. That would be a huge help just now. I was pondering what snow would be like in the desert when I felt an arrow tip at the back of my neck. "You're stupid, Hylian. No one trespasses on our lands."

"I'm allowed to be here. I have a pass," I explained, careful not to move around too much. "Just let me get it."

The Gerudo woman stepped around so I could see her dark face. She looked down her sharp nose at me warily and her yellow eyes darted to the sword and bow on my back. "Those. Toss them down and be careful abut it. I'd hate for my fingers to slip," she said silkily.

As I complied my battle keen mind couldn't help but comment that I could easily draw my sword and cut her down before she could blink, but of course that was just my mid being too used to combat. I had no desire to harm any of the Gerudo women. Except for Ganondorf, I'd found the Gerudo to be honorable thieves (if that made sense), and they'd be a large help against Ganondorf. 

I handed over the pass once my weapons were thrown away and silently said a thank you to which ever of the goddesses had decided to let me keep that when I was turned back to a child. Honorable or not, I didn't relish the idea of being tossed into another of their cells.

When she had looked it over carefully she shoved it back at me. "What are you doing here, Hylian?"

"Hunting a raven," I replied. "It stole an... heirloom," I settled on as I put my sword and bow back on my back.

"Girlfriend lost an earring?" she asked with a smirking smile. "She must a hell of a looker to send you into the desert."

I wasn't as amused as she was. "It wasn't an earring and it wasn't a normal raven. It was very large, the size of a Hylian."

Her amusement faded and she eyed me critically. "This 'heirloom' wasn't magical was it?" she asked and when I nodded the Gerudo simply shook her head. "Probably the old witch then. If your girlfriend values your life, you'd best head back home an tell her her trinket is gone."

"She's not my girlfriend, and what about an old witch?" I didn't need the woman to keep telling me it was a stupid and dangerous idea. That was my job wasn't it? To do the things that no logical person would ever consider doing.

"My mother says she was one of us, though she was always a bit... strange, then one day she just went mad. Started screaming and ranting nonsense. When others tried to restrain her she killed them. She even killed her own sisters. After that she ran out into the desert and hasn't come back."

"Do you know which way?"

The Gerudo woman sighed and pointed behind herself. "It's your funeral. She went South West."

I started Epona on in that direction and didn't look back as I replied, "It's only my funeral if they find the body." With that cheerful thought, I headed into the Gerudo village.

It was much like I remembered; the streets were laid out the same and most of the buildings were identical. Ganondorf being sealed away had shifted this land as much as anywhere else, but still I saw familiar faces that, like every other village only looked blankly back at me. 

Zelda rolling back time had been necessary, I knew that. There was no reason for the world to endure the suffering that he had spread if it could be changed and me myself was far better off to have grown up rather than suddenly be an adult, but still... it was a little lonely to be forgotten by everyone. Zelda was the only person in all of Hyrule that remembered me though sometimes I got the feeling that Epona did, too.

Without me needing to pull on the rein's she walked and headed down the street she had so many times in that time that had never really happened. "You remember, don't you girl?" I asked softly as I patted her neck. She nickered softly in reply.

I didn't know why the Three had left her memories, out of everyone, but I was thankful. Once we reached a certain point I took the reins and pulled her down the street that would lead the way the woman had pointed. This direction was new to both of us.

To be continued.


	2. Chapter 1

Author's Notes: With how short the prologue was, I'm posting this now, but from here on out I'll be posting every other Tuesday. In case anyone has noticed that I've updated this without adding a chapter, it's because I realised that had been nice enough to remove my asterisks. -sigh- Now my story has breaks in it.

Thank you deeply to all my reviewers: Simply Kelp, Kei White, pinkychan, Overlord Crazyjane XIII, The Mad Joker, and Eisenkrähe. I know Zelda isn't the most hopping of fandoms (for some unknown reason), and seeing a few reviews really makes my day. 

Chapter 1

The desert was wide and blazing hot as we made our way away from the Gerudo village. All and all, it reminded me quite a bit of the Haunted Desert, just without the stinging, blinding walls of sand. A vast improvement in my opinion; made it so much more homey. There were no roads here, so Epona and I were just moving in the general direction that we'd been pointed to and not for the first time did I question my sanity.

After a little more than half a day the shifting sand yielded to hard earth, grizzled shrubs, and the occasional abused looking tree. Idly I had to wonder why the Gerudo didn't make their homes here, where the desert wasn't quite so unforgiving, but I could only assume they chose their home to be closer to the people they stole from. Though the heat was a little lessened here, I found myself wishing to see some sign of life that wasn't a half dead shrub or scorpion... sadly I got my wish, sort of.

We'd been weaving our way through the bare bluffs of earth and stone when a pair of lizalfos jumped out with swords drawn. With a sigh I leapt off of Epona's back and drew my own sword to meet them. It wasn't the Master Sword, but it was a good one and the proper size to use with my shield. As if it had been yesterday, my body responded on instinct as I rolled and leapt and slashed at the pair of them and in no time they had fallen at my feet.

Finished with that, I remounted Epona and couldn't help but wonder about running into them. I hadn't had to deal with them since Ganondorf and I looked around us for a moment. Now that I thought about it, this place would certainly make a good staging point for an invading army. No one for miles and miles and plenty of space to set up anything he might have needed. As that time had been erased, any proof of my theory was scrubbed away, but I wasn't going to get too upset by it. In the scheme of things, it was a rather small disappointment. With a shrug, I steered Epona back to the "path" we'd been traveling along.

---

I burst to the surface of lake Hylia, with the water temple restored behind me, and took a deep gasp of air. Zora tunic or no, water just wasn't as good as real air. Once I had caught my breath again, I swam towards the welcoming shore of the little island above the temple and drug myself up onto the grass panting.

"You did it, Link," I heard Sheik say and turned to find him standing just to the side. In a moment he had crossed the grass and come to kneel by my side. "The temple is restored and soon the Zora Domain will be returned to the way it was before Ganondorf's poison froze it."

I shook my head at his formal praise. "I didn't do anything that special, I'm just the one that got the job. Anyone would do the same," I replied and though his face was covered by that damned scarf, I could see his ruby eyes crunch up in a smile before they fell on my arm.

"Was it very hard?" he asked and I looked down to see what he saw: a long gash down my arm.

I shook my head again. "Nah. No fire this time at least. Well, a lot less."

"A decided bonus," Sheik said and I thought I caught a playful glint in his voice and he leaned closer to touch my arm. "You're bleeding on your tunic. Let me help you." That said he gripped the bottom of my tunic and undershirt to pull them cleanly over my head in one smooth motion. As he tossed them aside he lingered a little close for a moment and I took the oppertunity to meet his deep eyes.

In them I found the same toiling loneliness that had so captured me every time before and without hesitation I reached out to slide a hand behind his neck, drawing him a bit closer. For a moment I held him there before reaching up with my other hand to catch a finger on his concealing face wrap, that infernal thing that always hid half of Sheik's tanned face.

My actions met with no resistance and the white cloth fell away but I wasted no time to gaze at the features that would never linger in my mind. Rather, I drew him down to close the distance between us and capture his lips in my own.

With a soft moan, he parted his lips for me and I was laying over him, relishing the feel of his bare skin against mine. The bright sun shone down on us, making his pale hair shimmer and his eyes burn like the sun at dusk but then, without warning, the sun was gone.

I turned to look up at the sky to find it as black as pitch: a swirling sea of dark clouds and before I could react the ground began to shake. In a flash I was on my feet and had barely pulled him up when the ground heaved and split apart. I fell backwards, into the nothingness below until I felt a warm hand wrapped around my wrist. My head snapped up to see Sheik holding me, bracing himself to try and pull me up. "Hold on!"

I did that and quickly found myself back onto solid ground. In a moment I wrapped him up in my arms and held him tight, thankful that he was safe and I wasn't alone when I felt him stiffen against me. I pulled back from him to see his hands were clasped over his heart, a dark stain spreading out from beneath them. I started to reach for him, suddenly finding him far away, when I saw Zelda standing behind him. Before I could get to him he fell to the ground, letting me see the dagger in Zelda's hand. Sheik's harp clattered across the ground and I screamed.

---

My scream echoed off the rocky overhang I was camped under and I blindly reached out for Sheik. The world was blurred though my tears and it took a few moments for my memory to return. A dream... just a dream. Still catching my breath I let myself fall back into my bedding. A stupid dream...

...Well... no. Not a stupid dream, or at least it hadn't been stupid when I'd started having it, almost a decade ago. I knew that Zelda hadn't killed Sheik, but it had felt like she had at the time. It was traumatic for a child to suddenly loose a friend they'd been depending on so much. Zelda hadn't been intentionally cruel, she'd just been telling me the truth. She'd probably thought she was doing good by revealing herself to me, but she'd been confused by my outward appearance. She'd made the mistake of treating me like an adult, when in truth I'd only been a small child wearing the body of an adult. To add insult to injury, I'd had to rush off to fight Ganondorf right after learning that my friend had only been a convenient lie.

I'd had that dream or some form of it ever since. Of course the more... intimate... parts had been filled in gradually as I'd grown older, but the base of the dream was the same as it ever was. I was happy with Sheik and then Zelda killed him. I shivered at the memory of Sheik falling limply to the ground and I quickly snatched up the scarf to hold it tightly against my chest. It was stupid to still be having this dream; I wasn't a child anymore.

With the scarf still held tightly I laid back down to try and find some sleep. I couldn't afford to stay up all night over this ridiculous nightmare. I had a witch to find and probably kill, if not be killed _by_.

---

The desert slowly became rockier and Epona and I made our way west by weaving through the gorges and ravines. As we went I looked about for any indication of the witch, maybe a helpful sign saying "Raven Witch's House, this way" and an arrow ('it could happen,' I reasoned to myself). Though I found no such sign, near noon of that day I saw a building off in the distance. With no other options, I steered Epona toward it and unconsciously focused on the feel of my sword and shield on my back.

As we neared it, though, it became more and more obvious that this wasn't the witch's house, but rather some massive and long abandoned stone structure. Time had long since tore away its previous grandeur, but the sheer size of it was a clear indication that it had once been a sight to see. I steered Epona around the large chucks of marble that was strung across the ground till I found a wide enough hole in the wall to walk through.

"I'll be right back," I told her as I dismounted and headed inside to try and see what this place was, but perhaps "inside" was too generous a term. The walls were broken apart in large pieces and the ceiling was all but gone. The further I traveled into the structure, the more it reminded me of the temples of my youth. The way the chambers were laid out, the symbols on the wall (left all but unreadable by the scouring sands), and I could even make out the broken remains of the traps that had once kept out those that weren't meant to intrude.

I reached a large circular room with a wide shaft in the middle that went down many levels into the desert earth. As I looked down it, many floors below I thought I could make out a symbol on the floor. My curiosity was peaked by this strange temple, so I found the stairs and started to make my way down. For the life of me I couldn't imagine how a temple could end up like this, but a temple was what it obviously was. Even in Ganondorf's time the temples hadn't been in a tenth of this disarray. However over run by monsters any of them had been, they'd all been at least whole. I was nearly to the bottom of the shaft when I heard a familiar wark call from behind me.

I spun around to find three lizalfos coming down after me. 'Oh goody,' I thought mirthlessly to myself as I jumped down a couple steps to the next landing. As I drew my sword, I heard another call from behind me. Again I turned and found two more that had been waiting on this level for me. I was just considering my odds when I saw another coming from the other side of the landing. "Wonderful," I muttered. I'd been pulling them after me the whole way down by the looks of it.

Shield ready, I repeated the dance I'd learned so well in my youth. Let one get close, tumble away when it attacked, leap and slash from its side. It was a bit more involved with so many of them, but in the end, they all fell as so many had before them. I didn't come out of the battle unscathed (a nice gash at my side was far from a love tap, but it wasn't deep). As the last one's eyes had slid from shock to blankness I couldn't help but wonder if anyone would miss him.

Was there a spouse who would wonder where he was? A parent that would weep? Little ones that would cry out in the darkness? Or maybe no one at all would notice. Some how that seemed the least bearable and I stepped to the edge of the landing to refocus my thoughts on the mystery of the temple.

For a brief moment I had a good view of the symbol, a swirling shape with what looked like eyes looking out from it, but before I could get a better look the floor beneath me groaned and cracked. Obviously my battle with the lizalfos had weakened the decrepit structure to the breaking point. As it collapsed out from under me, I tried to jump clear but none the less the ground rushed up to meet me and everything went black.

---

Wet. The first thing I felt was wet... and then cold. Really cold and despite the pain in my head I jumped to my feet, ready for... not what I saw. I blinked a few times as I tried to make sense of the scene before me, but that didn't help in the least. Snow. I was in snow. Somehow I was standing on a wide plateau, covered in deep snow, at night.

I craned my head up to look at the bright stars to confirm that yes I was still in Hyrule. I hadn't found some other passageway to Termina or anywhere else. This was Hyrule, but... night? and snow? Curious, I walked to the edge of the plateau and carefully looked over.

No matter how much I craned, I saw nothing but inky blackness and I quickly back peddled away from the edge. All and all, I wasn't very sure there was anything there at all and thought it safer not to check any further. I instead looked around the wide, snowy platform for any sign of life. Off to my right, I saw a flicker of light and, with nothing else to go on, I followed after it.

I wasn't exactly dressed for this sort of weather and after the blazing heat of the desert I was quickly loosing feeling in my feet and hands ...and the rest of me wasn't too happy either. It was a good ten-minute to forever walk to reach the source of the light: a moderately sized tent. Its walls were white, making it almost invisible if not for the blue banners that hung from the corners. Inside a candle was moving about, and, when I was only fifteen or so feet from the front of the tent, the flap opened as the occupant stepped outside to look up at the stars.

At the sight of the man, I almost dropped my sword. "...Sheik?"

The sound of my voice sharply drew his attention and he dropped into a battle stance though he was unarmed. "Who-!" He started but stopped immediately at he saw me. I was a little pleased to see he was just as shocked to see me, as I was to see him. "H-hero?"

For a moment or two I lost myself in the image of him, looking exactly like I'd remembered. His pale hair slicking out haphazardly from beneath his head wrap, his eyes dark in the dim light, his skin looking burnished against the surrounding snow, that infernal face wrap concealing the rest of his delicate face from view, and his body long and sinewy. For that moment or two, I believed what I saw, but then my memory returned to me and I remembered who it was that was really standing before me.

"Zelda, where are we? And why are you dressed like that?" I asked as I strode forward, my voice perhaps a bit harder than it needed to be.

For a moment Sheik looked utterly lost and took a step back from me. "The princess...? Oh. Oh no, Hero. I'm sorry, I'm not the princess," he/she explained half bowing his apologies, but I was in no mood for these games.

A part of my mind whispered that maybe she had a good reason for wearing it again, like she had the first time, but I was practically seeing red to have her in that get up again. "Oh, enough! I'm not going to put up with again, Zelda. Now where are we?" I demanded, but again he/she shook his/her head and took another step back.

"I'm sorry. I'm not-"

"Damn it, Zelda! I won't play this again!" I shouted, as I closed the distance between us in a flash. I thought that Sheik would defend him/herself but just before he/she did he/she seemed to think better of it and only flinched when I grabbed him/her by the collar.

"I'm not the princess, I promise you, Hero. I don't know how you came here, I swear. No one's ever here but myself," he/she explained quickly, eyes squeezed shut in anticipation of a blow.

I fixed the person before me with a hard stare before shoving him away from me. "Who are you," I demanded in a low tone. Nothing about him was anything like Zelda. She would have shouted outrage at me for manhandling her or would have at least attempted to fend me off. The subservient stance of this person was something that Zelda couldn't have pulled off in a million years.

He steadied himself and made sure that there was a decent distance between us as he straightened his shirt. "Sheik," was the only answer he gave, but I could tell he didn't think I would accept it, and he was right.

"That's a bad joke," I spat. "Sheik is only a disguise that the princess wore. Who are you? How did you bring me here?"

"I'm sorry, I'm only Sheik, Hero. I didn't bring you here, I don't understand how you've come." Though he seemed to putting effort into keeping his eyes down respectively, for a second his red eyes met mine and I couldn't deny the sharp feeling of recognition. I knew those eyes.

With a heavy sigh and looked around at the snowy landscape. "That doesn't make sense. Sheik was just an illusion, a mask the Princess used to hide from Ganondorf. And... and I was in the desert!" I snapped in aspiration. "Nothing about this makes sense."

Sheik seemed to search for a solution in the snow as well but when he met my eyes again, he only shrugged. "Perhaps this is a dream, then, Hero. Dreams don't have to make sense do they?" he asked honestly with his soft voice.

I regarded him a raised eyebrow at this answer and part of me was eager to believe this answer. "A dream...?" I asked aloud to myself mostly as I took a few steps closer to him. It certainly had a great deal of the earmarks of a dream. Sheik was here as himself rather than Zelda's disguise, I was in a place I knew I could not be, but... but it just didn't feel like a dream.

It didn't move like a dream, didn't have the same disjointed pace and consistancy that dreams have, and the snow was far too cold to be a figment of my mind. Sheik... it seemed so much like him but... but since when do dream lovers tell you you're dreaming? "A dream is it?" I asked him as I came to a stop right before him and looked at his half covered face and shining eyes.

"Perhaps," he replied limply, but he didn't seem to believe it or... was he trying to convince himself rather than me?

To test this "dream" I reached up to slip my hand around to the back of his neck and moved my face closer to his. As I neared him, I watched his eyes go wide but he didn't move to escape. Still the shocked look was all I needed or confirmation. "This isn't a dream," I stated matter-of-factly as I stepped back from him. "So what is this? Where is this?"

His tanned skin was suddenly darker as a fierce blush had crept up from beneath his face wrap and he averted his eyes again. "This is... nowhere, Hero."

I was about to continue with my questions when I noticed that he was dimming along with the winter world around him.

"Oh," he said softly as he looked back up at me. "You're disappearing..." Sheik said as he faded from view and I thought he looked older and more alone than I had ever seen him. I tried to reach out to him but he was gone, and the feeling of cold was slipping away swiftly.

Brilliant sunlight blazed red behind my eyelids and I immediately regretted opening them. "Ugh," I groaned as I sat up and looked around myself. I was back in the destroyed temple, under the desert sun, Sheik and the snow were nowhere to be found. As I drug myself up to my feet, I was suddenly reminded that I had taken a rather good fall and the world tipped dangerously while I tried to keep my balance.

A dream. Another stupid pointless dream about Sheik. Not only that, but it was a wasted dream. Dreams were the only place I could be near my imaginary lover and it was aggravating to think that I had wasted such a vivid dream on stupid questions and shouting.

Annoyed and in pain, I drug myself up the opposite set of stairs to where I had left Epona. Suddenly the wrecked temple wasn't nearly as interesting and I just wanted to find that witch and get this task over with. I'd happily hand the scarf over to Zelda and hope that my dreams of Sheik returned to the sporadic and far less vivid level they had been at before.

I didn't need the added help at remembering Sheik, as I was already very good at torturing myself with my memories of him.

---

We found a good place to sleep that night. Tucked into a little alcove to protect us from the desert winds, but the day after was more of the same and after the dream in the broken temple my spirits weren't what they had been.

I kept replaying the dream over and over again, despite my intention to forget it and never consider it again. I kept seeing him standing in the snow with that tired, lonely expression as I "faded away", his breath coming out in white puffs.

Halfway through the day, I climbed up on an outcropping to get bearings on where we were (which turned out to be nowhere, unsurprisingly enough) and when I got back down I saw that Epona had wandered off. When I found her she was inside a small cave, drinking out of a tiny little spring that was bubbling within.

We'd been almost out of water, but I'd been too caught up in my musings to take the needed time to find more water. Sometimes I wondered which one of us was the smarter of the two. I patted her on the nose and took a long drink myself before refilling the skins. "I'm sorry, girl. I'm being a pain today aren't I?"

She nickered at me and messily pressed her dripping muzzle against my face. I laughed and wiped my sleeve over my face. "Thanks. I'll try to brighten up. I promise."

She nickered again and went back to her water as I tried not to connect my previous thought that we were "nowhere" and Sheik's soft voice when he said "This is... nowhere, Hero."

Why had I dreamt that? I'd never had a dream anything like that and after all these years my dreams were pretty standard. I'd never dreamt of Sheik trapped in some snowy prison all alone. I wasn't sure why it felt worse than seeing him die over and over again, but maybe it was that hopeless look I'd caught in his eyes. In the other dreams we'd been happy up until things went bad, but in that snow filled nowhere he'd just been endlessly alone. "Perhaps this is a dream, then, Hero."

I shook my head and rubbed my hand over my face. It _had_ been just been a dream and nothing more. High time I let it go before I walked Epona and myself off a cliff. A wry smile crossed my face as I ruefully noted that she was too bright to listen to me about that and would stop promptly at the edge and whiney affronted-ly at the suggestion.

As I stood back up, I patted her neck again before I led her back out. "Good find girl, but we've got to keep moving," I said as I loaded the skins onto her back and slung myself up. "Let's go find Zelda's Weathervane and get out of here. I don't think either of us are much enjoying the desert."

She nickered her agreement and we rode off in the general direction that we'd been moving in the last few days (even though we'd done so well with that direction so far).

Surprisingly enough, we hadn't gone far before I caught sight of small Gerudo style home high up on a cliff. A little shocked at my good luck I stood there a moment and considered the best way to reach it, but as I did, I saw an old bent over Gerudo woman shamble over to the edge of a balcony.

Quickly I pulled us around behind a rocky hill, but she didn't notice us and I crept forward to see her pull out a bit of cloth. She drew it on as a headband and the instant she did there was a flash of white light. When it faded I saw the old woman had been replaced by an enormous raven ducked down as if in pain. The bird then straightened and flapped it wings experimentally before taking off and flying away.

I figured this was my chance to grab the Weathervane before the old woman returned and quickly remounted Epona to try and find a way up to the house high above. Though it was no easy task, after a bit we had found it, tucked away amongst some high rocks at the top of a long incline. I didn't suppose she could have put her home in less accessible spot. 'I guess she doesn't entertain very often,' I thought to myself as I tried to lighten my own tension as I dismounted and headed into the house.

It had taken way too long to find the home and I was a little paranoid that they witch would arrive back at any moment. I had no illusions that I would have to fight the witch eventually (she _had_ stolen a magical device from the palace after all), but it would be better to have the Weathervane safely tied to Epona's saddle before I did.

I carefully slipped into the back door and looked around at the unusual home. It was dark, with dark, lined cloths hung over most of the windows, making the inside even more stifling than the outside had been. The first room looked to be a kitchen, though odd things hung from the rafters and I didn't think inspection would yield anything I wanted to know. The next room seemed to be a sitting room with many old books and scrolls but no weathervane. Stairs in this room led up and I hoped that the room with the balcony would be up there.

Quietly I made my way up and looked around. By the looks of it the witch had not yet returned and I hurried as best I could to get out before she did. This first room off the stairs though was one of those places that begged to be stared at.

All manner of animals were shut up in cages stacked upon each other, with birds chained to perches, next to stick that had a large cocoon attached to it, and even an enormous tank with a strange fish a little smaller than I was. Near by was a brass cage with a small fire snake swimming through the air within it. When I tapped the cage the strange creature let out a tiny hiss of steam.

On the far side was what looked like a workbench that was covered with strange tools, but no sign of the Weathervane. I decided not to contemplate too closely what the workbench was used for and moved onto the next room.

Here was the balcony room, finally. It was another workroom, reminding me of the old woman's potion shop in Karakiko though with more books and scrolls and the walls were covered in strange masks, hoods, hats, and other things of that order. "What the hell...?" I wondered aloud as I picked up a mask that seemed to be of a smiling young woman. Not since Termina had I seen so many masks, but I didn't have long to ponder on that as I suddenly heard the sound of wings flapping.

Quickly I looked around myself to try and see if the Vane was here, but no luck. I hastily shoved the mask back onto it's hook and headed back to the stairs as quietly and quickly as I could, but I'd barely gotten into the room with the animals when I heard a dull thud from the balcony room and knew that the mask had fallen.

I swore silently to myself and made to hurry out but in my distraction with the mask, I kicked a cage holding what looked like an armored hedgehog. It let out a frightened squeal that was soon followed by the other animals.

"Who's there?!" a reedy old voice shouted out and I abandoned all attempts at stealth. That place was cramped and her territory. I had no intentions of fighting her there, so I tore down the stairs. "Thief!" she screamed after me and bolts of energy flew over my shoulders.

'That's the pot calling the kettle black, isn't it?' I thought as I bolted out the back door. Once clear of the home I drew my sword and turned to face her.

A second later she burst from the house, moving far faster than I would have expected from her bend over posture. "Who dares-?!" she began but her golden eyes went wide at the sight of me. "You! Come to make a clean sweep of it, have you?!" she cried and a dark ball of energy pooled between her outstretched hands.

Having absolutely no clue what she was talking about, I readied myself to dodge whatever she was about to throw. "I'm just here for the Weathervane. Nothing else," I tried to explain as she certainly thought she knew me from somewhere.

The old witch just cackled and I couldn't help but be reminded of the Rova sisters from the Spirit Temple. "The whore sent you out here after her toy did she?" she asked as she threw the suddenly bright ball of energy at me. As I rolled away from it I saw her pull something from her long sleeve and could only assume that that was what I had come for. "Well then, I suppose I should let you have it!"

With that she turned the Vane a certain way and instantly vicious winds whipped up around me, replacing the air with sand. "Choke on the desert, Hero! A fitting death I think!" she old witch jeered at me, but all I could do was blindly run. There was no way I could fight in that, as even breathing was a chore.

'Ah yes,' I thought mirthlessly. 'Here's the sandstorm I remembered so well.' As I stumbled away, feeling my way long the rock, I tried to pull my tunic over my face but it kept falling whenever I would catch my foot on something and I had to throw my hands before myself to keep from falling. After a half a minute of this I decided to screw nostalgia and yanked Sheik's scarf out of my pouch. As I wrapped it around my mouth I thought I felt an odd sensation, but I didn't have long to dwell on it as I heard the witch's voice far too closely for my preferences.

"Running away?" she cackled and through the sand I barely saw the bolt of energy before it stuck me in the chest. "Not very noble, is that?"

Deciding enough was enough; I slammed both my hands together and then thrust one downwards to summon a blast of Din's fire. I was rewarded by a cry from the witch and took the opportunity to run.

She didn't pursue again, but I was stumbling through the blinding sand for quite some time before I ran into the cave that Epona and I had used earlier... literally. Rubbing my bruised head I fell down against the wall and looked up at Epona, who was peacefully drinking at the spring again. "Glad to see you made it back here alright. Couldn't have picked me up along the way, could you have?" She nickered and maybe it was the head injury but I thought it sounded like a laugh.

With a sigh I shook my head and looked down to examine the wound from the witch's spell when I paused. ...Why were my feet blue? I was rather sure they'd been leather before... and my pants were also blue now. Where the wound cut into my chest and stomach, a slightly tattered white tunic was there where my green should have been. I held my bruised and cut hands out before me and I saw they were covered in too familiar, odd wrappings.

With a hand clasped to my bleeding wound, I leaned over to look at myself in the small pool of water, but myself wasn't there. Instead looking back at me were tired but strong ruby eyes. My face, which had gotten a long cut from a jagged rock I had stumbled into in my escape, was darker than normal and what I could see of my clothes were exactly as I remembered. I was Sheik and in my shock I yanked the cloth away from my face.

The small cave was filled by a flash of light (which Epona whinnied at in irritation) and when it faded my hands and clothes were back to normal. Not only that, but the wounds on my chest, hands, and face were gone. 'So that's how she did it...' I thought to myself and pulled on the wrap again.

Just as before, there was a flash of light (annoying Epona further) and my form was reshaped into that of Sheik's, complete with the wounds that had vanished before. I looked down into the pool once more and was again greeted by eyes that not only weren't my own, but also didn't have any of myself in them. It was strange but, now that I was like this, I at least had an answer to a question I'd never been sure about: Sheik was definitely male...

...and at that last borderline thought I drew the mask off again. It wasn't that I didn't already feel like a freak for fantasizing about an imaginary person for half my life, but being dressed up as him was a line into pervishness that I didn't much want to cross. After bushing off the sand from the wrap, I carefully folded it up and packed it away.

It was a mask, just like the transforming ones I'd used in Termina, and apparently the witch was quite proficient at making them, too. I hadn't thought they existed here, but apparently they just weren't to be found in the Happy Mask Shop.

It was late by now, and as the sand was still tearing past the cave entrance I decided that sleep was a good idea.

To be continued.


	3. Chapter 2

Author's Notes: I know I said every other Tuesday, but I changed my mind. It'll be every Tuesday from now on.

As ever, I want to thank my reviewers: Eisenkrähe, Surreptitious Chi X, Kei White, Hatii, and ForestGleny. I'm pleased and a little surprised that I have a reader that doesn't play Zelda. I assume you have a Zelda playing friend, Surreptitious Chi X, but if you don't I'm gonna do my best to make things clear for a non-player. 

Chapter 2

When I woke the next day, the winds were still again. I remounted Epona and headed back for the witch's home but when I viewed it from below I was shocked by what I saw. Great columns of black climbed up from the building as flames poured from the windows.

I spurred Epona on and swiftly navigated her up to the back of the fully engulfed home. By the looks of it, it had been burning for quite some time and little more than walls remained. I tried to recover something, anything from the witch's home but soon gave up. Everything that had been in there was long gone and all I could do was sit and wait for the flames to die out so I could sift through the bits to be sure that the Vane wasn't there.

Some hours later, when I was able to do just that, I found exactly what I anticipated. The Vane was gone and the only bones to be found were that of the caged animals, but why would the old woman burn down her own home? By the looks of the rubble, she hadn't taken much if anything. Why was the Weathervane important enough to do all of this, but then I remembered her rantings at the sight of me. "You! Come to make a clean sweep of it, have you?!" I could still hear her shout with her brittle voice.

Who did she think I was? Honestly I couldn't image that many people ran about with a kokiri tunic on, let alone a Hylian wearing one in this desert, so what was she thinking? I'd certainly never run into her, either in this timeline or before Zelda sent me back, so what had the old witch meant?

Feeling more than a little dissatisfied, I climbed back onto Epona and steered her back down the way we had come. The skins were filled and there was nothing left here, so I thought we would do best to head back to the Gerudo and see what else I could find out about her. Maybe they'd have a clue where she was headed or who she'd thought I was.

The desert was the same as ever on the trip back, though we made far better time without the task of trying to find something. It was getting dark again when I saw the broken temple before us and my thoughts immediately went to the face wrap and the bizarre dream. Regardless of my best attempts to keep myself clear of the place, I none-the-less brought Epona back up to the ancient building. This time we passed by the shattered remains of one of the wide, six-sided, temple seals, confirming my suspicions that this had indeed been a temple.

_'Maybe it had been a precursor to the spirit temple,'_ I reasoned, but that didn't feel very likely. The symbol I had seen on the floor hadn't been that of the spirit temple, so what was this place?

As I cautiously descended down into the temple again (this time watching for lizalfos and catching two along the way) I finally reached the floor below. I noticed torches surrounded the seal but disappointingly lighting them did nothing. After a few minutes of equally fruitless searching I returned to the seal and looked up.

The ceiling above was mostly gone, revealing the ever-darkening sky above and I could make out a few stars already. While I wanted to discredit the dream as just that: a dream, I couldn't shake the odd feeling it had left me with. I'd had the "dream" while unconscious in a strange temple with Sheik's scarf in my pouch. I pulled it out to look at it and ponder the situation.

_"Perhaps this is a dream, then, Hero. Dreams don't have to make sense, do they?"_

But dreams did make sense in a backwards sort of way. I dreamt of Sheik in the places I'd seen him at because I associated him with those places. The Temple of Time, the lake, the well in kakariko, just outside the forest or fire temple. I dreamt of Sheik in those places, or sometimes wherever I was thinking of at the time. I'd had quite a few of him in Termina, but that too was familiar to me and maybe my mind had subconsciously linked Sheik to the masks from there way back then.

I dreamt that I was happy with Sheik because that's what I wanted, and dreams were good at letting you live out your fantasies. And I dreamt of Zelda killing him because from a child's perspective that's exactly what it had felt like. Dreams did make sense, in their own dream way, but… but that dream I'd had in this broken temple hadn't fit any of those criteria.

Stubbornly I sat down against a large chuck of the ledge that had fallen out from under me before and crossed my arms. I'd just sleep here and see what came of it. It was dark anyway and probably too risky to try and get back to Epona. I'd slept in less comfortable places before and settled in a little better. As I waited for sleep to find me, I let my hand slip into the pouch that held Sheik's wrap.

---

I found myself again on the snowy plane and after a brief look around myself I trudged towards the tent. I didn't plan on wasting time with stupid questions this time. Something was obviously up and this was no dream. "Sheik…?" I began tentatively as I pushed open one of the tent flaps, but was turned silent by the sight I saw.

There was Sheik, laying on a cot, with bloody bandages wrapped around his chest, while the wounds on his face and hands had been left unattended to: the wounds he'd suffered when I had worn the wrap. His shirt was off, but his face cover was still on (oddly enough). As I stepped in I found that the small fire in the middle of the tent kept it quite warm. "Sheik…?" I said softly as I came closer.

At this he woke and was startled to find someone there. When he saw it was me he made to get up. "Hero, I-" but I stopped him there with a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't get up, those wounds are nasty," I admonished and looked around the tent. "Do you have anything for them?"

The Sheikah shook his head. "No, but they'll heal on their own with time," he assured but I wasn't reassured in the least.

"I'm sorry I got you hurt. I didn't think that was anything but a mask. If I had known…" but this time Sheik stopped me.

"There is no need to apologize. I'm always happy to be of use. I was sent with you to be used, after all."

As if I hadn't been feeling guilty before, now I had to tell him that he hadn't actually be sent with me at all. "Actually, I… accidentally walked off with the wrap when Zelda was telling me about the Weathervane. Do you have any more bandages? I can tend to that cut on your face and the ones on your hands for you."

He blinked at my sudden switch of topics and pointed towards a roll of bandages on the floor beside the cot. As I picked them up and went for the pitcher of water I'd seen on the other side of the tent, he spoke up. "You took me?"

When I came back I kept my eyes down guiltily and dabbed the wounds on his right hand a moment before I answered. "I didn't mean to, I was just being brainless. I just thought it was a normal scarf she'd kept. I didn't know it was valuable. I promise I'll take your wrap back to her as soon as I'm done."

"Oh. Well, I'm sure that's quite all right. I was made for the royal family, but as you are who you are, I'm sure her majesty won't mind. You… you don't need to do that, Hero. I promise you, I'll heal on my own."

"I was the one that got you hurt," I stated as I wrapped the now cleaned hand. "The least I can do is this. Let me see your other hand."

He did as I asked silently and as I worked on that one I asked, "Why did you tell me this was a dream before?"

Sheik was quiet for a bit before he replied, "I… I wasn't sure that it wasn't."

At that I looked up at him, though he was looking down at my work quite resolutely. "You thought you were the one that was dreaming?"

He shrugged. "No one has ever come here before, so it seemed like a logical answer."

I nodded, agreeing this him on that point. A dream was a good answer for it. "Didn't feel like a dream though and I certainly wouldn't dream of you in a tent in the snow, so…" I trailed off, as my mind automatically jumped to what the dreams were normally, but I squashed that quickly. "What is this place?"

"I don't know. I guess it's nowhere. It's where I am when I'm not being worn."

"Are you aware of what's going on when someone is wearing the mask?"

He nodded. "Yes. I can see and feel everything, but of course I'm not in control. If I may ask, where was that in the sand? Are you in the desert?"

"Yeah," I said, finishing the wrap on his left hand. "A raven stole something magical from Zelda but as it turns out that witch that shot at us had transformed into the raven to steal it. I don't know why she took it, yet. I'm on my way back to the Gerudo to try and learn more about her. Let me get your face, now."

Sheik moved to comply, but as I saw him struggle to sit up for me I moved quickly to support him with an arm around him. "Here." I quickly grabbed his pillows and shifted them to support him in a half sitting up position. As I did, I thought he leaned against me a little more fully than would be exactly necessary. It was nice to really feel him after dreaming about him for so long, even if it was just to help him sit up. "…There you go," I said as I finally released him against the pillows.

"Thank you," he said back and I wondered if there was a faint blush creeping past his face wrap.

I dipped my cloth into the bowl of water again and leaned forward to start cleaning off the gash that ran past his right eye.

"How did you come here?" he asked and by his tone it was what he'd wanted to ask since I'd appeared again.

"I ran into a strange, broken apart temple on my way to find the witch. The first time I was knocked unconscious on the symbol in the main room of the place. This time I fell asleep on purpose on it. I guess having your scarf with me at the same time as I'm asleep on that symbol let me get here."

"The Seventh Temple?" he asked and I stopped my work to look at him.

"Is that was it was? It was destroyed, barely anything left but a few walls and stairs leading down to the symbol."

"Destroyed?" he asked, surprise and concern clear in his voice. "Is that what happened to it? When the princess Zelda was using me she spoke of the 'six' temples often with Madame Impa and I saw her go to you at the first six, but I didn't understand why she of anyone would ignore the Seventh but I thought that maybe the Dark King hadn't been able to poison it. How would a temple be destroyed?"

I shook my head. "I don't know, I was wondering the same thing myself. What was the Seventh Temple?"

"It was the chief temple, the one the other six surrounded and supported. It was there that the seventh sage stood and governed over the others. From it the seventh sage dreamt of the future and foresaw dangers that would befall the land. It would be the princess Zelda's temple… it was fine when I was… well not here," he finished quickly. "But that was a long time ago."

I wanted badly to ask how long ago, and why he'd been put here. By what he'd just said, I could guess that he'd been a normal person once. He must have been made into a mask like that witch must have been doing with all those animals. The question was: why? He'd said he was made for the royal family but that was all. Still, it seemed too personal. "If I put on your wrap and drink a potion, would your wounds be healed?"

By the way his head jumped up, I could only assume that he'd been lost in his own thoughts about the very things I had decided not question him about. "Yes. Yes, that would work, if you have need of me."

I made an irritated noise. "Has nothing to do with 'having need of you'. You're injured and it'll take weeks for you to heal from those injuries. I'm not going to let you just lay here in pain," I snapped at his constant refusal of help. He wasn't a tool, even if he'd been trapped as a mask for however long. "I'm not going to treat you like a thing, no matter how much you try to make me," I said as I stood up and went to dump out the bloody water.

"I'm sorry, Hero-" he began but I cut him off.

"And don't call me that, like its some sort of title. I'm not royalty or a sage or anything else. I'm just someone that can swing a sword," I said but Sheik was shaking his head, looking shocked that I would even suggest such a thing.

"When I was a boy, the priest at the temple told stories about you: the Hero of Time that would come and save Hyrule from darkness. He used to tell us about how you'd take the sword sealed by the Three and cut down a monster set at devouring all of Hyrule." I was trying my best to wave him quiet (I was no one but the guy that got the job, nothing more), but he wasn't paying attention. "There was a tapestry of you in the King's personal library… When the princess Zelda came to meet you at the temple, wearing me, I couldn't believe that you looked exactly as you did in the tapestry, just like all the stories said you would. You're courage," he said, the awe audible in his voice, meanwhile I was quite sure that I was beet red.

I couldn't even find my voice to dispute what he was saying. "You were the only one that could do the 'job', because only you are courage… I… I'm sorry. It's been a very long time since I've spoken with anyone and you…" He seemed to regather himself and sighed before he continued. "The Hero of Time is Courage, and Courage has no want for Power's glory or Wisdom's station," he said as if reciting. "It wants only to be courageous and do great things. Do no hoist finery upon Courage's shoulders, for it will cast it off as a weight. Do not sing praises to Courage, for it find them off key," he continued and I thought I caught a hint of laughter at that line. "Give Courage only subtle thanks, warm smiles, and a long road lined with good deeds in need of doing."

When he had finished I wasn't sure to be more embarrassed by what he'd said or reassured by it.

"That was the text at the bottom of the tapestry that the king had. I knew it well and still I let myself forget it. You won't have to endure my inappropriate praise anymore, Hero."

I had to sigh at the use of that title. "I'm still going to have to break you of calling me that, aren't I?"

He went to say something but stopped, his expression shifting from faintly amused to disappointed. "Hero…"

It was then that I realized that it was getting darker in the tent.

"You're leaving again."

"I don't know when I'll be back, but I will. Alright?" I said quickly and I thought I saw him nod as he disappeared from sight. The next thing I knew was the morning light falling down from the desert sky onto me and the symbol of the Seventh Temple.

---

The Gerudo village seemed to take years to reach, and that was with Epona riding her fastest on a clear path. I didn't need to spur her on; it was as if she sensed my need to hurry. "Happy to be of use" or not, I felt miserable to have put Sheik in that condition. How many times in the past had Sheik laid there in that bed bleeding, in pain, and alone. The respect I'd had for him in my youth was bolstered with the knowledge of why his eyes looked like they did.

Oh, there had been oceans of loneliness in them, there had been hopelessness and the look of someone that had never intended their life to end up as it had, but there was strength in them too. As miserable as he was, he had never broken, he had pressed on the best he could. If I was "courage", what was he? 

When I reached the city I had many arrows pointed at me but I waved my card as I jumped off Epona. "I have a pass, I have a pass. I'm the Hylian that just came through here a few days ago."

"The earring retriever," came an amused voice from the crowd and I saw the Gerudo from before step out. "I take it you didn't get your girlfriend's earring back, but I won't hold that against you. I'm shocked you made it back alive at all."

"Again, she's not my girlfriend and no I didn't get it back. I was wondering if anyone here could tell me more about the old witch. You said your mother spoke of her."

The woman nodded. "She did, but no one knows were her home is. We can't help you there."

I shook my head. "I don't need directions, I need information. I found her home," I explained and I heard a few gasps go up around me. "But she decided to cut and run after she ran me off once. Is there someone I can talk to?" I asked quickly, not enjoying the stares of awe and disbelief that I was getting from the Gerudo.

The guard eyeballed me something serious and then nodded. "Come along this way. Go on, go on," she said to the crowd around them. "I'm sure you've got business of your own." That said they started to disperse and I followed her up the street. "My name Tabla, by the way. Yours?"

"Link."

"Well, Link, what is it you do? You're sent after the old witch, find her, survive fighting her, and then when she decides to leave, you ride across the desert again like you're on fire to find out how to find her again?"

I thought for a moment. Telling her that I had been in a rush for a potion would lead to more questions and those were ones I didn't think I could convincingly answer. "I run errands," I said, thinking it a good description.

"For who?" she asked as we reached a house at the edge of town.

"Anyone that needs one run."

Tabla raised a red eyebrow at that and she regarded me again. "And who's this errand for? Who's your 'girlfriend'?"

I sighed and gave a prayer to whoever was listening that this didn't end this discussion. "The Princess Zelda."

Whatever Tabla had been expecting that hadn't been it and she took a step back to give me a more appreciative look over. "You're the Princess's Sword… I've heard of you. They say you can fight demons. They say that you _fought_ a demon that the princess made everyone forget."

Now it was my turn to be shocked. "Who says that?"

She smirked at having caught me off guard and she jerked her head towards the house were in front of before leading me within. "Mother Fumagra? I've brought someone to see you."

The inside of the house reminded me of the inside of the witch's house: dark and stifling, but thankfully there were no animals in cages or masks on the walls. Tabla led me to a spindly old Gerudo woman that looked like a strong breeze might blow her over. "This is Mother Fumagra. Mother, this is Link, the Princess's Sword," she said and I wanted to roll my eyes. Titles… more titles. I liked "errand boy" much better, but the old woman raised her eyes curiously at the introduction.

"My, my… yes… …I almost remember you… You came here and impressed someone very much… and I almost remember who… You fought back a darkness that smelled of the desert… and I almost remember when," she said with a wry smile. "But you remember, don't you Link?"

I took a seat on the cushion before her when she motioned for me to. "Why do you remember at all?"

"A mystery, I think, but perhaps because I am a seer by trade. When time resettled itself it was many, many months before I was aware that anything had happened. I doubt I'll truely remember, and perhaps it's better that I don't. But, that's not why you're here is it? What has brought you to my door, Link?"

"The old witch that left this village, the one that transforms into the raven. She stole something from Zelda. I found her home in the desert and tried to get it back, but she caught me. I wasn't expecting her to be as dangerous as she was and I had to run off. When I came back, she'd gone, taken what she'd stolen, and burned her home."

The old woman drew her hands to her mouth in thought and considered what I'd just told her. 

"She seemed to recognize me, too, but what she was saying didn't make sense. She said something like 'come to make a clean sweep of it?', but I never met her before. Who is she?"

"…She was once a powerful enchanter," Fumagra said finally. "She wasn't a seer, but she was powerful indeed. Her and her sisters. Her name is Vashulu Rova, she was never normal but-"

"Rova? Was she related to Koume and Kotake?" I interrupted.

She looked surprised for me to say that and nodded. "They were her sisters," she said and I let out a long groan.

"Well I suppose that solves the mystery of why she hates me. I killed them both in the other timeline."

"Why?!" Table suddenly demanded, breaking into the conversation for the first time since their introductions.

"Because they were…" I paused trying to find a way to describe it. "They were in league with the darkness that Mother Fumagra was talking about. They were helping it by brainwashing Gerudo's at the Spirit Temple!" I added defensively. It wasn't like I'd been slaughtering innocents; they had been on Ganondorf's side!

Tabla paused a moment as she took that in but then she shook her head. "But my mother said she killed her sisters the day she went mad. Remember? I told you she'd killed her sisters, along with a few others who tried to restrain her."

I nodded, remembering that, but why would she kill her own sisters? "Could she have maybe been that confused by the time shift that she didn't understand what she was doing? Or maybe… I don't know, she thought they were fakes?"

The old woman had stayed silent through this, thinking it over. "Perhaps, and her hatred of you would lead us away from the possibility that she was angry that her sisters had been on the side of the destruction. But maybe… maybe there is yet another answer we aren't seeing."

I nodded at that, more than aware that the woman could have any reason at all to do the things she did. Maybe the time shift had simply deranged her. "Do you know of anywhere else she might go? Or why she would want the Weathervane?"

Mother Fumagra slowly shook her head, making the dim light reflect off of the stone in her forehead. "No, no I'm afraid I don't, Link. I'm very sorry."

"That's alright," I replied as I stood up and brushed myself off. "You've been a big help anyway. Before I head out," I started looking to Tabla now. "Is there somewhere I can get a healing potion here?"

"Sorry, kiddo. We don't have a potion crafter here."

My shoulders slumped a little but I nodded my thanks. "Thanks anyway. I really should head into the market place regardless. I'll stop by again if I'm still having trouble in case you think of something else." With that and a few pleasant goodbyes, I headed out to where Epona was waiting for me. Next time I came through here they'd recognize me as the Sword of the Princess, though I supposed that wasn't too bad. They were on my side because of what I'd done before, though they weren't very sure what I'd done exactly.

As the Gerudo had never been people for fawning adoration I didn't think it would get embarrassing with them. What was that Sheik had said? Something about 'don't put finery on my shoulders'? Whatever it had been, I sure couldn't argue with it. I couldn't stand titles and bowing. Thankfully most of the guards thought I had my position as Zelda's favorite errand boy through dumb luck or earned it in some less than valid way. However they thought I'd gotten my position (and sometimes the looks they gave me made me very happy that I didn't know) they thought me to be no one.

While I missed my friends knowing who I was, I was very happy that I didn't have guards bowing and scraping before me.

_'Sing him no praises…'_ I thought to myself and had to chuckle as I galloped Epona across the gorge. With luck, we'd reach the market place before night.

---

Luck decided to take a holiday, as it turned out, and I was just passing Lon Lon when I saw the gates start to rise. I would simply ride to Kakariko but the shops there would be closed by now anyway. I pulled Epona to a stop and stood up in the saddle to try and think of what to do.

Without the princess's Ocarina many of my old tricks wouldn't work. By the time I reached a fairy fountain it would be dawn anyway, so that would be no help to Sheik. I was eons from the Seventh Temple so I couldn't even see him. It was aggravating but I honestly couldn't come up with a solution. As annoying as it was, I would have to wait till sunrise to get Sheik any help.

I pulled out Sheik's scarf and looked at it as I steered Epona towards the city gates. I wanted to pull it on to tell him that I'd have the potion as soon as dawn came, but I wasn't sure if that would do anything to the bandages I had put on him. The last thing I wanted was to hurt him more, so I put the wrap away and dismounted her at the stand of trees beside the gate. We'd bed down there for the night as I had on so many occasions.

The active, do it now, part of my brain demanded that I rush off and find a fairy somewhere or a deku selling potions, but I knew it wasn't workable. Without the Ocarina my options were narrowed to the two potion stores. With a sigh I set up my bedroll and climbed into it.

The night was rather dreamless for once and I was woken by the clack of the bridge chains. Quickly I wrapped up my bedding and was about to use Saria's old ocarina to call Epona back from where ever she had wandered to, but decided to leave her to whatever she was doing until I was done in town. Not only was the potions lady on my list, but so was the Happy Mask Store. I had some questions for the ever-smiling man.

The bridge wasn't fully down yet when I jumped onto it and jogged past the guard standing there. The market place was a rush of activity as it always was and I weaved through the boisterous crowds to reach the potions shop. I quickly tossed down the rupees for the brilliant red liquid and with the bottle in hand I headed just down the way to the mask shop. The bell over the door rang cheerfully as I stepped in, and I tried to tell myself that the guy didn't even deal in the transforming masks (except his momentary foolish pursuit of Majora's mask once) and as such I didn't have to strangle him, but images of Sheik laying on that bed kept raising my temper. This man knew of the masks, as they'd been in Termina (the memory of all the transforming masks that I'd used during my visit there made me more than a little uncomfortable).

"Hello, how may I help you?" the cheerful man asked as I stepped up.

"I need information about the masks."

"Oh, well they're all crafted by the finest-" he began but I cut him off quickly.

"No, I need real information about the masks from Termina. Remember me?" I asked and suddenly the man's eyes went wide.

"Ah, yes. Yes, I do. The boy who found the doorway. Well, well," he began looking about to be sure there weren't anyone else in the room. "What do you need to know? As you've been there you know how they are."

I nodded. "I need to know about the transforming masks."

Quickly the man was shaking his head. "No, no, I don't trade in those. I was only looking for Majora's mask as a collector, not for the purposes of selling. They're very rare and… and not the sort of thing I prefer to keep in stock." He looked a little squeamish at the thought and I found that both reassuring and encouraging. If he was that bothered by the idea he had to know what they really were.

"I know, trust me I know. When I was there, though, I ran into a few and now I've encountered a witch that's skilled at crafting them here. I need to know anything you know about them. The technical end. I know… I know they're made by sealing a person or animals into the mask, but nothing else."

"Someone here is making them? I thought the technique had been lost eons ago. I didn't even think any still existed here, let alone new ones being made. I would certainly help you if I could, but my knowledge of them is very limited. Once I discovered what they were, I had no interest in selling them."

"Is there a way to release someone that's been turned into a mask?" I asked, hoping he knew someway, no matter how impossible it was.

"Release them? No, no, my boy, you don't understand. When the mask is made the person is killed. Their body is destroyed and the imprint of it is fused into the mask. You could burn the mask to put them at rest, but there's no-" he said but again I interrupted him.

"No, you're wrong." I pulled out Sheik's mask. "This is a mask that was made here long ago. It has a Sheikah within. I was able to speak with the guy in here through a dream magic. He's in there, he's aware of everything that happens when the mask is worn. He's not dead."

"Dream magic?" he asked and as he picked up the wrap I tried hard to squash any possessive reactions that welled up in me. "Are you sure you didn't just-"

"Yes," I replied quickly. "I'm sure. It wasn't a normal dream, I was transported to this nowhere land that he lives in when the mask isn't worn. Please, I need to find a way to get him out."

The mask salesman turned the fabric over in his hands. "But… No, you can feel the pain of their death when you put on one of the masks. You say you've worn them, surely you remember the pain when you put them on or off?"

As he said it I immediately remembered that detail. "Yeah, yeah they did hurt, but… but this one doesn't. It just feels a little weird for a moment. No pain at all."

Clearly confused by this the man turned the wrap over in his hands. "It's an odd item to use, but if it's very old…" he trailed off with a shrug. "I'm afraid I don't have the answers for you. If someone here is making them, you probably don't want to go to her for help, goodness knows what sort of woman she is-"

"Oh, I know what sort: the homicidal sort. Don't worry I don't intend to ask her for help."

He nodded and handed Sheik's wrap back to me. "I suggest you go back to Termina. Someone there might be able to give you your answers."

"How do I get back?" I asked as I folded it back up and tucked it away. "I've never found the entrance again."

"Oh, well that's easy. Here," he said and pulled out a bit of parchment. "Just go here and press this stone. It'll open up the cave," he explained as he drew crude representation of the woods to the side of lake Hylia and a circle where the rock would be."

"Thanks," I said as I folded it up and put it with Sheik's mask. He gave me his luck as I headed out and I paused a moment to look up at the castle. I could go up and give Zelda a report, but really what could I tell her? "I found the witch, but then ran away and lost her. Still looking, but while I'm looking I'm trying to find a way to destroy Sheik's mask which I'm sure you think is a priceless treasure but is really a prison that I accidentally walked off with." Nah, maybe giving a report would be a bad idea, but then what _was_ I going to do?

I had no idea where the witch might have run to and no way to find out. Even if she used the Vane, was there anyway to pinpoint her location? The thing effected all of Hyrule. I had the map to Termina in my pouch but… it didn't seem right to just run off in the middle of dealing with this woman. I was rolling this over in my head as I walked back to the front gate.

Just leaving Hyrule to find out about Sheik seemed… selfish and irresponsible, even though I was technically doing it for Sheik. As I crossed the gate I pulled out my ocarina and called for Epona. As ever, she promptly appeared and I hoisted myself onto her. "Well, old friend, any ideas of where we should be going now?"

She dipped her head down and munched on some grass as a reply. "Oh thanks. You're very helpful." I was about to direct her towards the woods on the map, just to find the stone to be sure it was where the crude map said it would be, when a thunderous explosion sounded to my left.

I snapped my head around, sword drawn on instinct when I heard it, but it was almost forgotten in my hand when I looked up. Death Mountain was erupting: raining down fire while molten rock flowed down the sides. All worries of the map were momentarily forgotten as I spurred Epona towards Kakariko.

As she tore across the little bridge I remembered Sheik and his potion and yanked on the scarf. The pain of the wounds hit me with a sudden force I didn't expect and for a moment I was left gasping from it. Once I reached the stairs I leapt from her and quickly downed the potion. As miraculously as ever, I felt the injuries heal over and I ran a wrapped hand over my/his abdomen to be sure it was alright.

That done, I ran up the stairs towards Kakariko. "Sheik! I don't know if you can hear me but I'll be a little delayed coming to see you again. I've got you all healed, but I've got to handle this first," I explained as I crested the top of the stairs and Death Mountain came into full view. "I'll see you when I can," I promised and then pulled off the mask.

I ran through town, weaving through frightened people standing in the streets and pointing towards the blazing mountain. Like a shot, I was climbing the hillside, ducking this way and that to avoid any falling debris and the similarity to how things were during Ganondorf's time wasn't lost on me, only this time it was worse. Though the mountain had been spitting ash into the air and the stones had rained down at the very peak, there had been no lava and the stones were falling far enough to clatter on the roofs of Kakariko. What in the Three's names had the witch done?

And there was no doubt in my mind that this was the doing of the witch, Rova. It was too convenient that this had happened just days after she torched her own home. Whatever was wrong with this woman, it was serious. While I'd been fighting to calm the mountain to restore peace in my youth, my main concern now was to try and help the Gorons up above. With that lava sliding down the peak, it wouldn't be long till it reached their city and flowed straight into it.

To be continued.


	4. Chapter 3

Author's Notes: I'm glad everyone likes my idea of making Sheik a transforming mask. While waiting for Twilight Princess to come out, I attempted to control myself by replaying OoT Master Quest. I know there are a LOT of sites that have tons of comparitive pics of Zelda and Sheik giving "evidence" that Sheik is a woman (some logical, some not so), but they all rely on the same thing: the pics from Smash Bros, not the real game. After going back to Ocarina of Time after so many years I couldn't explain Sheik's appearance as anything but a magical transformation of some sort. Not only does her body shape change (width of shoulders and so forth) but her skin tone changes, eye color changes, hair changes length, and her ears go from hylian to humanish.

While yes Sheik was a disguise that Zelda used, it's impossible to argue that it was simply an outfit. Even if you think the Sheik form was female, magic was clearly involved.

As ever, your reviews are welcome and loved. Thank you muchly to Kai-chan Akiyama, meg, drace-hunter, Kei White, AJ, OCP, YamiGoddess, Eisenkrähe, Fhulhi the Crazy, and Kou-Kagerou (good to see you again!). 

Chapter 3

By the time I reached the Goron's city, the lava was slowly dripping down over the cave-like entrance into the city like many flaming curtains. I could hear people within so I darted past them, remaining thankfully unmelted, but I'd come so close my left sleeve ignited. I had to pat it down as I rushed into the city. Thankfully the lava was slow and had yet to block the entrance, though it would in mere moments. "No!" I shouted as a Goron tried to get past me out of the city.

"The mountain-!" he began but I shook my head.

"No! The entrance is blocked, it's too dangerous to use it. You'll be burned alive if you do!" Not even these stone people could survive the river of lava that was flowing down the mountain.

"But there's no other way!" another Goron shouted, clearly near panic and that was a rare sight in these calm people.

The city was constructed like a wide, tiered pit, with each of the five levels stepping down till it reached a small square that held a shop and the entrance to the leader, Darunia's home. Each tier had a wide street and many homes and stores set along it, with other small streets and all of them were filled with shouting, terrified Gorons. Where I stood, at the upper level, the open space was extremely wide with a small platform hanging in the middle from three thick chains.

For a moment my mind raced for some other way to escape this city with the Gorons and I suddenly remembered the hidden entrance in the leader's chambers to the temple of fire. It was a moment before I realized that it didn't lead to the temple, itself, but rather opened up near the entrance of the temple, in the crater of the volcano. With the eruptions, it would be filled with lava and clearly wasn't the way to go. As if on cue, lava began to crawl from outside Darunia's door. More Goron shouts and cries erupted at this and suddenly I remembered the way out. "This way! Get to the second level!" I shouted above the crowd and turned to run down the stairs.

With nothing else to go on, they all blindly followed after me. It took a second to get my bearings in the city, but then I saw it. I ran around the circular road in the center till I reached the door I needed and just as I remembered it was blocked by huge boulders. "What are you doing?" one of the braver Gorons asked but I shook my head at him as I drew out one of my bombs.

"Get back!" and with much pushing and confusion they got just clear of it by the time it went off. In the great thunder of Death Mountain's eruptions, the explosion was barely audible and when the dust cleared the way was open. "Go through! It leads to safety, but once you get through go no further. Wait in that clearing for me!" I shouted and began waving them on into the darkness.

The lava on the first level was starting to build up, more than halfway to the level I and they were on, and it suddenly occurred to me that there might be too many Gorons to fit in that first glade beyond the door. Beyond that, I worried at the lava coming through this door as well once it filled enough of the city. "I'm going through to lead them on!" I explained to the ones that hadn't gone through yet. "Keep coming through here after me!" With that shouted at the mass of them, I ran through myself.

---

I burst through the archway to find Gorons crowded together in the tiny glade of the Lost Woods. "Everyone!" I shouted to be heard above them though at least I didn't have to fight the sound of the mountain as well. "I will lead you out of here, but you have to follow me exactly! If you become lost in these woods there's little hope I will be able to find you again! So please! Stay close and do not wander, no matter what you see!" Having explained as well as I could have given the situation I headed though the woods, making all the turns I had learned as a small child.

Slowly but surely we all made our way out of the woods till the tiny village of the Kokiri children came into view. Immediately the Kokiri were rushing up to us all, having likely never seen an exodus of this size explode in their village. "Death Mountain is erupting severely," I told them. "I brought them through the hidden entrance to their city."

"But how-?" Mido, they're self appointed leader, demanded but I had no time for that.

"It doesn't matter, just help direct them into the village so they don't all stay up here! I'm going back to make sure they've all come through all right, but the lava might come pouring out the door into the Lost Woods too. Their whole city is filling up with it. Do you have any magics to stop the lava?" I asked and the twins piped up.

"I think we can help with that. We'll meet you there," they said and darted swiftly through the legs of the Gorons like mist.

I followed as quickly as I could but it was like trying to swim upstream to get past all the Gorons. Little by little, I made my way back to the door and saw Gorons were still exiting it. The twins stood on either side of the stone archway. "We're ready to put up the seal when you say so. How many of them are there?"

"I don't know," I replied honestly. "I'm going to go back through to see. Be right back." I then charged back down the dark tunnel.

Once through I found the situation as bad as I'd thought. The lava was starting to well up over the lip onto this level but at least the last four Gorons rushed past me as I exited. I was about to run back through and tell the twins to put it up when I heard a cry from above. My eyes snapped up to see a small, Goron child on the center platform that hung over the wide circular space above. He was crying in fear as the lava was pouring in through the main entrance and down the wall to the third level just above me. "You! Roll down to me. Aim for the this door!" I shouted but the child showed no notice of me. In another few seconds the lava from either above or below would block off this exit so there was no time to talk him down.

In a flash I pulled out my hookshot and fired at the platform he was on. The springs instantly reacted and I was yanked up to him. "Hey! Come on kid, we're getting out of here!" I shouted as I shook him.

"It's everywhere!" he cried and I spun my head around as I heard one of the last sounds I wanted to hear at that moment. The sound of a chain breaking. The lava had flowed to where one of the three chains that supported the platform attached and it was a fraction of a second from breaking and flipping us both into the pool of lava below.

"Listen!" I shouted and actually struck the child's hard body with the side of my hookshot. "Hold on to me and everything will be alright!"

Miraculously he did just that, latching onto me in a painfully tight grip. I would take the cracked ribs gratefully if it meant getting out of here alive. The second I felt him latch on I fired the hookshot as far into the doorway below as I could. As it rocketed us to there, I felt the platform swing out from underneath us. When we landed, I was thrilled to see that I had gotten us far enough in that we were clear of the lava that was now creeping down the tunnel. I almost took a second to celebrate until I saw another of the chains above fall causing the platform to swing towards the far wall. It didn't have much of a chance to as the last chain was melted through... leaving the platform to fall straight down into the pool of lava right in front of us.

Still holding the crying child, I turned and ran as fast as I could, praying that I beat the soon-to-be wave of lava. As I did, I couldn't help but admonish myself for not leaving Sheik's scarf with a Kokiri instead of endangering him like this.

By some miracle, we burst into the Woods ahead of the wave and the instant my feet hit grass I shouted, "Shield! Shield! NOW!"

At my command the twins did just that and I turned in time to see the rushing wave of lava crash against the shimmering fairy barrier. "Did you get them all?" one of them asked and I nodded numbly as the lava leveled out and then started to climb behind the transparent shield.

"Yeah, I think I did. Any that were outside the city might have gotten killed, but I think we got all the ones that were in the city. Thanks," I said as I gave the girls a tired smile.

They dipped their heads and made their way back out of the glade.

"Come on kid, no reason to cry anymore. We're alright now."

Tentatively he looked up from my chest and looked around. When he saw the wall of lava he screamed but I quickly quieted him. "No, no, it's safe. Fairy magic is holding it back. It's alright."

He sniffled loudly and looked back at it and saw that yes indeed it was holding. "Are you sure it can't get out?"

"Very, and for added security we're going to go away from here to where the other Gorons are waiting."

This seemed to cheer the child some and he let go of me the rest of the way. "Okay..." he said in a shaky voice. When I offered my hand to lead him out of the Woods he took it happily. As we finally exited the woods to reach the village (now filled with Gorons to the gills) I realized where I knew this kid from. This was little Goron named Link, Darunia's brother. I wanted to ask him what had become of his brother in this time line (as the sages had remained as sages when the time shifted) or even what his name was now (as in this time I had never saved the gorons in my youth), but he was rushing to the rest of the Gorons.

It would have been a very strange conversation anyway.

Instead, I let him go and looked around at the mass of Gorons gazing around excitedly at the new place: relieved to be anywhere safe. I would have to lead them out into the wide Hyrule field and then to Kakariko or the city itself. This was something for Zelda to decide in the end, I just had to get them somewhere for now. With another shout I re-caught all of their attention and waved them to follow me out of the village and to the field beyond.

---

It took two days to walk the Gorons from Kokiri village to the field in front of Kakariko, but once I had left them gathered up there, I headed into the city to find Zelda. I was pretty sure she had noticed the eruption (as it was slightly noticeable). To prove this point, as soon as I entered the palace Zelda was waiting for me. "Link! Thank the Three, they say you brought a mass of Gorons with you?"

"Yeah, I think I got nearly all that were in the city."

When she heard that she let out an audible sigh of relief. "Some of the villagers in Kakariko said they'd seen you running up the mountain but from what we could see it didn't look like there was any hope of you saving anyone."

"I knew a backdoor," I answered simply and went into no more detail. I was sure the Gorons would be happy to tell the tale many times. "I brought all the ones I helped out to the field by the stairs to Kakariko. I figured you'd know better where they should go than me."

She nodded and at a wave of her hand several couriers zipped off to do something official and well organized. Nothing that I understood or wanted to understand. This was Zelda's area. _'Courage wants not Wisdom's station...'_ I could almost hear Sheik saying, and despite how tired I was I smiled a bit.

Then I remembered that I had technically "stolen" Sheik from Zelda and I sobered a bit.

"Have you found the Weathervane?" she asked once we were mostly on our own (and I say mostly because there were only a handful of guards and a messengers keeping to the back).

"Not yet. I found our thief but she escaped before I could stop her. I think she's also responsible for this eruption."

Her face darkened and she nodded. "Are you sure?"

"No," I admitted. "But the witch who took it was extremely powerful and it looks like she remembers at least some of what happened during Ganondorf's time." It was an ugly thought, but it was more than likely right.

Zelda obviously disagreed with me, judging by her expression. "That's not possible, Link. Only we two remember..." but I was already shaking my head at that.

"Not so. An old woman amongst the Gerudo vaguely remembered me, though the memories were jumbled and this witch is the sister of the twins I battled in the Spirit Temple. She recognized me, Zelda, I swear to you she did. I don't how or why but she did."

Her expression was somewhere between disbelief and worry, and she paced away from me for a moment. "but..."

"The Gerudo woman was a seer, she said, so that was a reason she had for remembering what was, and this witch is grossly powerful. You should have seen the energy bolts she was tossing at me," I said as I followed after her. "I haven't seen anything like that since Ganondorf. She also uses a real old magic that no one uses anymore. I found somewhere I might be able to get answers about that from where but... judging by the mountain I would say she's either in there or has left something in there that's gonna be a bundle of fun. Ganondorf didn't even mess Death Mountain up this much."

"What kind of magic?" she asked, facing me again.

"Um... well it's a type of enchanting but very evil. It allowed her to take the form of the raven so that she could fly in and get the Weathervane." I turned to look out a window to see Death Mountain burning red in the darkening sky. "Any ideas how to get into the fire temple?" I asked, honestly at a loss.

Her fine brows drew together in thought. "I would gladly hand you the ocarina, but with the eruptions..."

I nodded. "The whole crater is filled with lava. Teleporting in to the front of the temple wouldn't probably be too smart. There was an entrance from the Goron city, but that's just as good an idea. That eruption seems to have done a fine job of cutting it off from me," I complained.

All the way here from the forest I had been wracking my brain for some way, anyway into the temple, but with Death Mountain actively erupting lava, my options were slightly limited. I hated this, being blocked from doing what I knew had to be done. All I wanted to do was charge into the temple and tear out whatever had crawled into it, but instead I was forced to sit outside and wait and watch and... and do NOTHING! I was just short of pulling my hair out. The Three only knew what the Rova witch was doing up there. And why did she want the Weathervane?

"I remember Impa saying once," Zelda began and I turned to face her, eager for any answer. "That there was a passage into the mountain from the far side that only the Sheikah had used long ago." She then turned and started heading back into the interior of the castle. "I'll go and speak with the sages on this. Wait right there," she directed and vanished from sight.

Despite my best efforts to at least pretend that I had some manners, I rolled my eyes. With hope, it wouldn't take long. If it had been anywhere near the seventh temple I could have asked Sheik, but as it was, I had to wait. I hated waiting. With a heavy sigh I walked over to one of the windows facing Death Mountain and sat on the window sill, resolutely ignoring any disgruntled looks I got from the various palace people.

I knew I should tell Zelda about Sheik, that he wasn't just a trinket for her to leave to collect dust in her trove of priceless treasures. That the whole time she'd been using him as a disguise he'd felt every wound she took and then had to bear them when she took the mask off. That he lived alone in a tiny tent surrounded by snow and overlooked by stars that never faded. It bothered me that she didn't know, though I realized I was half imposing my own feelings of guilt at the transforming masks I had used in Termina onto her. That wasn't fair either. We'd both made that mistake; both had assumed that a mask was only a mask.

I didn't want to tell her though, because I didn't want her to try and take the mask back or argue with me. I wished there was an easier way to talk to him than going out to the Seventh Temple. After showing him Death Mountain he could be worried, something I wasn't used to.

Normally no one knew I was doing something that would likely kill me. Of course Zelda or Malon would be worried if I told them, and when they saw me they always seemed happy that I was alive, but the dangerous things I did was always more... abstract to them. Except for Zelda watching me battle Ganondorf, neither of them had ever actually seen what I was running into. Zelda had been at the temples, but I doubted she'd ever been in them/ She probably had just had the general idea of "it's dangerous". It was strange to think that someone might be pacing, waiting to hear that everything was alright. I'd shown Sheik the mountain two days ago.

With a sigh I realized that I should put on the wrap as soon as I was done here. If only to reassure him I was alive and his mask hadn't fallen into a pool of lava.

Just as I finished that thought, I looked up to see a messenger moving towards me. I pulled my hand from the pouch with Sheik's wrap as I stood up. "Yeah?"

"Her Highness would like to see you. Please follow me," he said with a bow and judging by his tone he didn't think he should be bowing at all to me. Apparently he was with the same mindset of the guards (that I was a nobody that the princess was unfortunately fond of) and I was actually kind of pleased with that. I _had_ been worried that my rescue of the Gorons would change things here but I guessed not.

I followed him through a few rooms to what seemed like a small temple within the palace. It consisted of one ornate room with high stained glass windows that cast colored patterns across the marble floor. I was taking in the ornate scenes depicted in the windows when I heard Zelda's voice ahead. "I wanted you to hear from Impa as well," she explained and as I neared I saw the translucent image of Impa standing there.

I waved to her on reflex before realizing that this probably wasn't a situation for waves, but ah well. Since when did I worry about decorum? "Is there a secret entrance into the mountain?"

"Yes, and no," she replied with her arms crossed exactly how I remembered. "There is a way, but it cannot be accessed. There is a door on the far side of the mountain that blocks a tunnel into the temple, but it will only open to Sheikah magic."

"My disguise," Zelda began. "Won't be enough as the magic I wield isn't of Sheikah origin. The disguise is only just that."

I wanted to correct her, but let it go. This wasn't the time to go over that with Death Mountain pouring out lava. Still... I remembered the map to Termina in my pouch and the wrap that lay with it. "Would any Sheikah be able to do this?" I asked and when Impa nodded I tugged my gloves on better, unconsiously, in anticipation of action. "Then I might have an answer. I need to go and check out that lead I was telling you about: about the witch's magic."

"But you said that she was related to the witches in the spirit temple. That she was Gerudo," Zelda questioned, clearly not getting how I could pull a Sheikah from my hat (or rather pouch as the case was) when they were all gone.

"She is Gerudo, but through her enchanting I think I can get a hold of Sheikah magic. Is there any other way to reach the fire temple than the Sheikah entrance?" When they shook they're heads I nodded back. "Fine then, I'll go that way. I have to leave Hyrule for a short time," I explained and when I saw Zelda and Impa open their mouths in alarm I waved them off. "I'll go as fast as I can, I swear. I've been to this place before, it'll be fine. I have to run into the desert first though to check something," (ie. tell Sheik what it was that I was going to try to do). "Hopefully the whole process won't take me more than a week."

They nodded to me, both looking bewildered, but as I turned to leave my eyes fell to the pattern on the floor and it was my turn to be stunned. There, under my feet, was the spiraling symbol of the Seventh Temple. I stared at it a moment before looking back to Zelda. "The Seventh Temple was moved here?"

She blinked at me, clearly not expecting me to ask that. "Moved? It only became a proper temple when I took the position of the seventh sage," but to that I shook my head.

"Maybe now, but it used to be out in the desert. A huge place just like the other temples. I ran into the ruins of it when I was looking for the witch." Maybe I wouldn't have to trek out into the sands, but then again asking Zelda to sleep in here would probably bring up some awkward questions.

"He's right," Impa said. "It did use to be a normal temple but the Three destroyed it and only resurrected it here when you took your position as a Sage."

"Why?" I asked, eager to finally learn why the temple had been in such a state.

"It's said the sage became corrupt. The seventh temple is the temple of prophecy and foresight; the sage was using his abilities to thwart the will of the Three, reshaping the chains of events to his liking. Apparently this was a long running problem with the temple until the Three chose to destroy it and leave it destroyed until you took your place, Princess."

I nodded to myself as she spoke, finally understanding what had caused the destruction I had seen. The Three themselves had cut the temple down, rather than a mortal bringing a taint into it, as Ganondorf had. She seemed to be taking this news in as well, but there was a mountain to break into and patience was never one of my virtues. "Listen, the reason I was going into the desert was to get to the remains of the Seventh temple, but maybe this will wok just as well."

"What do you require from it?" Zelda asked, her hands clasped primly before her.

"Um..." I started and shifted my weight nervously as I rubbed the back of my neck. "Well, it might sound strange, but I actually need to sleep on this symbol," I explained tapping my foot on the seal beneath us. "When I do, I can get some of the information I need. I can't see the future or anything, it just lets me talk to someone."

"Who?" Zelda asked suspiciously.

"Someone who can get me into the temple. Listen, I know it's weird, but it'll get me to the witch." I could tell that she wanted to argue with me but the situation was dire enough that she must have decided that there was time later to press me for details. "Very well then, Link. Should I have the servants bring in a bed?"

I shook my head, "No, I didn't have one any of the other times. Might mess something up. Hopefully this will be the last time I have to sleep on the stone floor though," I said with a half smile. I was no creature of the palace and certainly didn't need anything like a bed being brought in for me. I was even reluctant to ask for a simple bedroll, as I'd just been straight on the floor the other times. "I'll be fine."

She hesitated before turning to Impa. "Very well, thank you for your help Impa. I'll contact you if further help is needed."

The Sheikah bowed and vanished. When she did, Zelda turned back to me. "Would you like me to fetch you something to make you fall asleep faster?"

"Yeah, that would be good. Thanks," I said and she left. Once I was alone another thought occurred to me, another reason to keep the truth of the mask from her as long as possible. If I felt so guilty for using the masks I had in Termina, how would Zelda feel for having used Sheik for years and years? And knowing how many of her ancestors had used him? She was royalty, she was used to the idea of sacrificing others for the greater good, but he didn't think she'd be so used to it that Sheik all alone on that snowy platform, bloody from whatever dangerous thing the princess had had to endure, wouldn't bother her. Actually I was beginning to wonder if there wasn't some way to keep the truth from her forever, just let her think the witch had taken the scarf at some point and that it was destroyed in the fire.

I had taken off my weapons and armor while I mulled this over and was just sitting down when she reappeared with a steaming mug of something. "This should have you asleep in minutes."

"Thanks," I said but as she started to leave I called after her. "Zelda?" When she had turned back I continued, "Look, I'm sorry for all the secrets, and I'd really rather tell you what was up (I'm not very good at this subterfuge stuff), but... You don't want to know. _I_ don't want to know."

My words seemed to reassure her at the same time it worried her more. "Is it that bad?"

"Yes," I replied honestly. "But I'm going to do my best to set it right, all of it." I would stop the witch, I would recover the Weathervane, I would free Sheik, and everything would be set to right. Sheik couldn't even be upset at shirking his duties as the disguise of the royal family as he was absolutely necessary to protect Hyrule. I'd fix this.

She nodded at my reassurance, a small smile reaching her face. "Very well then, I will leave you to your work," she said and bowed a little before she left, closing the heavy doors behind her.

---

I awoke laying the snow once more and stood up to look around the dark, wintry expanse. With hope, Sheik wouldn't have to be here much longer, but of course that all hinged on someone in Termina having the answers I needed.

After brushing the snow off of myself, I jogged over to the tent and pushed through the flaps. "Sheik? I-" I had started but the words caught in my throat as the sight that met me. Sheik was sitting on his bed in only his pants. A look of utter relief to see me crossed his face for a fraction of a second before he remembered his state of undress.

For that half a second I not only got a glimpse of his sinewy, tanned chest, but also the elusive features of his face. "Sorry," I said sheepishly, but I thought I caught the shape of a small mouth with lips a half a shade darker than his skin. In a flash though, Sheik had turned and snatched up his wrap to quickly cover his face. Still... I liked the view I had of his long, smooth back.

"I-it's good to see you safe and sound, Hero," he stuttered out nervously. "I had worried when I saw you were heading into that eruption. Did everything come out well?" His hair wasn't even half hidden under the wrapping he usually wore so it was falling around in more disarray than normal. The soft tawny strands almost touched his shoulders... whichlooked far nicer than any of my dreams had painted them. In this haze of... appreciation... of Sheik's finer points, I had to wonder at the importance of the face covering.

"In the end. It was a bit of a job but I think I got out nearly all of the Gorons."

"Got them out?" he asked as he turned back once his face was properly covered.

"Y-yes," I stammered as I tried not to stare at his bare chest. "The city was flooded by the lava, I barely got in before it was sealed it off completely."

Once he had pulled on his shirt he looked back up at me. "Then how did you get them out? Were you injured?"

"Nah. Almost, but I slipped out in time," I replied and grabbed a seat on the other end of the bed from him. I tried not to be too pleased at the concern in his voice. "I knew a backdoor from their city to the Lost Woods."

At the mention of the woods, Sheik seemed to pale. "You- You came from the Kokiri. It's a rare gift to be able to navigate that place."

I had to raise an eyebrow at the tremor I heard in his voice. "Seen it?"

Sheik let out a half of a laugh. "Once. A prince once took me to run away from home, and he wandered into there. I began to think he'd never find the way out. He'd make a turn around a tree and be before a stream, but if he walked around another tree, the stream would be gone. Another moment and fairies would be in the distance and when he approached children would appear beside them. They told him they'd make him a stalfos if he stayed within the woods and he ran away, but where he'd come from was gone: replaced with a deep, deep pool. I didn't know what would happen if he transformed into a stalfos while wearing me." An almost suppressed shudder passed through him at the memory. "Eventually he stumbled into a small village of the children (Kokiri, right?), and he ran for the exit."

"He misunderstood," I said with a shake of my head. "The Kokiri meant that the Woods would turn him into a stalfos. It happens to anyone that gets lost in there for too long, even Kokiri."

"Oh," he said and by his expression he had been wary of the Kokiri ever since.

"If he wouldn't have run, they probably would have led him out, but yes, the Woods are frightening. I got lost a few times myself. My main fear about bringing the Gorons through there was that they would wander off and be lost. As it was, they all stayed on the path I led them on and kept together. Glad to see the potion fixed you up."

Sheik nodded and picked up a sock from beside him. "Thank you. It was very appreciated, Hero."

"My name is Link," I pointed out with a wry smile.

"Yes, Hero," he replied stubbornly and I couldn't miss the way his eyes crunched up in a smile.

I sighed dramatically and fell backwards across the bed. "Pain. Here I am enduring strange looks to get to talk to you again and tell you some good news and I don't even get to be called by name," I mock complained as I stared at the ceiling of the tent.

"Good news?" I heard Sheik ask, the curiosity clear in his soft voice. "What good news? What strange looks?" he asked again, leaning over to look at my face and to be honest, I almost forgot what the news was, what with how the flickering light from the fire and candles barely caught his ruby eyes.

"Why do you wear that covering over your face?" I asked, his closeness wiping away any interest in my own news.

He brought a hand up to cover the wrap with his hand self-consciously. "We always wear them."

"Impa doesn't, and she's Sheikah."

He leaned back again to draw his legs up underneath himself. "I'm not anywhere near her in position. She was the personal guard and nursemaid to the princess."

"So it's a matter of rank?" I asked, sitting up again to face him. "If you were high enough you could take it off?"

"The lady Impa was personally indispensable to the princess. I was only one of many guards," he explained softly, sounding like he was almost ashamed.

"But you've been 'indispensable' to many royalty over the years as the mask, right? Zelda alone would have been killed if not for you."

"My charge his or herself must give me permission to take off my mask and claim my name," he explained, seeming to find his hands fascinating.

"'Claim your name'?"

"You had news to tell me?" he asked quickly in a slightly breathy voice that told me that he didn't want to answer those questions.

Though I wanted to press him, I knew that we only had so much time to tell him what I had to. "Right. Do you know of a back door into the fire temple. A way that only Sheikah can use?"

He paused in thought a second but then nodded. "Yes, I remember that. Why?"

"I need you to get me in through it. A witch caused the eruption of Death Mountain to seal it off from me, so I need you to get me in the back."

"I'm sorry, Hero," he began. "I can tell you where it is, but even if you wore me you wouldn't be able to cast the spells that would be necessary to activate the door."

"I know," I said with a wide grin at his apologetic tone. "That's why you're going to actually be there to cast the spells." When I got a look of utter confusion from him, I explained. "I'm going to find a way to get you out of the mask and back to a normal person."

"You're going to try to release me from the mask?" he asked, disbelievingly.

"Well, I can't keep sleeping on hard stone every time I want to see you, can I?"

He paused for a moment, taking that in but then started shaking his head. "I can't. This is my station; I can't abandon it." He stood up and paced away from me, but I wasn't going to listen.

I hopped up to follow him. "There are no Sheikah left. Impa is gone to be sage and can't come back to cast the spells. You're it and if you don't do it, who knows what the witch has planned. You're not abandoning your post, you're helping me save Hyrule and the royal family by connection," I explained as I sidestepped to stand in front of him. "This is a way out that's necessary for everyone's good. You're the only one that can get me in, Sheik."

He still didn't look convinced and refused to meet my eyes. "Did the princess agree to this?"

I opened my mouth to say something... but couldn't come up with anything. "Well... See, I was going to try and, you know, not tell her."

"Why?" he asked and for the first time since I'd mentioned my plan, he met my eyes.

"Well..." I started, suddenly feeling defensive. "I used a lot of masks that were made like you were and when I found out that they weren't just masks but rather people I... Well it isn't right. I thought it would better to just not tell her." I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly, my frustration at his resistance creeping into my voice. "You've no doubt been an enormous aid to Zelda's family, but did you plan to be in here forever?" I asked exasperated, waving at the tent around them.

"I didn't plan to be here at all!" he suddenly burst at me but immediately lowered his eyes in apology. "I'm sorry, Hero. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have-" he started as he turned to head back away from me but I caught his arm.

"It's alright, really. What did you mean you didn't plan on it? Were you forced into it?"

"No, of course not. Any Sheikah would lay down their life for the royal family. It was an honor to be asked, I just..." he trailed off, still looking down.

"You just what?"

"I just... I thought that was what I was doing: giving up my life. They said it would kill me and my appearance would act as a disguise for the royal family." He pulled out of my grip and walked back over to the bed. "I'm not complaining; I never would. Like you said, I've been an aid to the family far, far longer than I would have been able to otherwise. It just wasn't expected," he explained but he sounded like he would like nothing more than to complain and curse the people that had shut him up in here.

"I told Zelda that I had a way to enter through the Sheikah entrance," I started in the most reassuring voice I could. "And she was happy to hear it. Things looked hopeless until I told her that. I told her it would take time and my leaving Hyrule and she agreed. She wants me to open the door by whatever means are necessary and if I told her about you she'd agree to that too."

"I don't..." he started but then his expression shifted and I realized it was getting dim. I was waking up.

"Listen. You say I'm the Hero? Then, I say that I need you to do this! If you don't then the princess and everyone else could die!" I shouted out to him as he disappeared from sight.

---

I woke on the hard floor and sat up with a groan. Damn waking up... I wasn't done yet, and now I was worried that I hadn't gotten Sheik's agreement... but he would agree if Zelda _was_ on board. I was stretching out the kinks the night had left me with when I heard someone move behind me.

"Good morning, Link," Zelda greeted me as she stepped up with a plate of breakfast. "Did you find out what you needed?"

I took the tray from her and shrugged. "Sort of." I started to eat as she took a seat on one of the benches surrounding the seal. "Zelda... what does it mean for a Sheikah to "claim their name'?"

She paused a moment, having not expected that question but answered quickly enough. "Well, Sheikah considered themselves possessions of the royal family and most of them went only by the name, Sheik, like I did when I was in disguise. Only when their charge pointed one out as special could they take their name and go without their face uncovered, like Impa did."

"Why? They're people too; why live like tools?" I asked, unable to hide my opinion of the matter, but Zelda just calmly shook her head.

"It was their culture. They considered it a matter of pride that they surrendered their very identity to the royal family. It was seen as the ultimate sacrifice and when one was able to take their name and face back, it was a sign of true accomplishment for them. I don't pretend that I would want to do the same thing, but it was their choice."

I had to concede that much. While a part of me wanted to argue that the Zelda's ancestors should never have allowed them to make that sacrifice, I knew that it was their choice in the end, and if Sheik was coming from that mentality... would he accept being freed from the mask without the princess's permission? I sighed a bit as a solution was forth coming.

"Is something wrong?" she asked and I looked up at her a moment while I considered the problem at hand.

"Has a Sheikah ever been assigned to someone that wasn't royalty?"

"Well..." she considered. "It did happen, though it was rare. Very important people to my family would at times be chosen to have a Sheikah given to them."

"...And if that happened, could the person they were serving let them take their name and ditch the face cover?"

Zelda thought again but then nodded. "Yes, that happened upon occasion. Why do you want to know?"

I paused a moment before reaching into my pouch and pulling out Sheik's wrap. I tossed it to her and went back to my breakfast. "I accidentally walked off with that when you were telling me about the Weathervane. Didn't mean to but I wasn't paying attention. Figured I'd give it back to you after I got the Weathervane," I explained as she looked surprised at the scarf. "But I need you to give it to me properly. I don't mean lend it to me, or let me use it for the moment. I need you to give it to me completely."

"This has been in my family for generations," she explained, the shock over my demand clear in her tone.

"I know that."

She seemed even more shocked that I didn't think that was important, but things like that didn't much matter to me. Having no family of my own might be a reason for that. "…And me doing this will some how help you reach the fire temple?"

"Yup," I answered simply as I finished my breakfast.

"And you can't bring it back?"

"Sorry, Zelda. In order to get through the Sheikah entrance to the temple I have to destroy that scarf, or at least destroy the enchantment on it. You can have the scarf back if it's still there after I remove the enchantment," I said with a small smile, which only exasperated her more.

"You have to destroy it? It's ancient."

"And it's been of enough help to your family, it really has, Zelda, and now it's going to help me get into the fire temple and stop the witch from doing whatever it is that she's doing. The gorons have already lost their city and its a miracle that I got up there in time to save them all from being killed. Who knows what she'll do next," I said as I stood up. "Giving me the wrap is the right thing to do, Zelda, but you have to give it to me. You can't just lend it to me."

She sighed and stood up to meet me. "If it is necessary to save Hyrule, then it is a small price to pay, I suppose. Still... I must admit I'm a little attached to it after wearing it all those years. It saved my life; seems a terrible thing to destroy it," she said as she ran her hands over the wrap and I let out a sigh.

I was being too possessive of him and I knew it. I was set on doing this alone, but meanwhile Zelda was fond of him in her own way too. "What if I can promise you you'll see Sheik again? Even after all of this." Though I knew my knee jerk reflex to keep him from her was childish, I also wasn't willing to give her the chance to say I was nuts and take the wrap back from me. (She'd proably make it a pain to steal back off of her.)

"But you said..."

"I promise. When I've handled the witch, you'll see him again."

At that she smiled again and nodded. "Alright, then. I will leave this to you," she said, handing me Sheik's scarf. "Good luck."

"Thanks." I put it back into my pouch and pulled on my sword and shield. "I'll be back as soon as I can." That said, I headed out of the palace and out of the city.

To be continued.


	5. Chapter 4

Author's Notes: This story has cracked a thousand views! YAY! I would go on about that longer I'm sure, but I have a spectacular headache kicking and thus I will make my remarks brief. Ugh, there's a lot of coding to do in this chapters.

Throbbing pain, though, will not stop me from thanking my reviewers (wonderful people that feed my inflated ego). Thank you OCP, Dark and One Other, Yami no Tsuki, drace-hunter, Eisenkrähe, Fhulhi the Crazy, Chaotic Serenity, AJ, and Kai-chan Akiyama. To Chaotic Serenity, you're absolutely right about the Goron Link, I have no idea how that typo occurred. I'll fix that when I have time. As for the lava and Gorons thing, where in the game does that come up? No one I know can remember that coming up, and I think all my friends have beaten TP.

On the topic of canon issues, as I said before, my N64 controller is MIA so I may make some errors in Termina. Anyone is welcome to call me on them and I'll fix them if I can. 

Chapter 4

A daylong ride led me to where the mask salesman's map pointed me. Over my shoulder Death Mountain was a roaring fury but I couldn't think about that now. Now I had to find my way into Termina and the answers to freeing Sheik. Without him, there would be no way to enter the fire temple and stop the witch Rova.

The sun was just beginning to consider setting, but still this area was as filled with mist as I remembered from my childhood. Epona disliked the place but I did my best to calm her worries and keep her steady. I didn't want to go through the gate alone if I could help it. "Come on, girl. You let that skull-faced kid ride you through here. You could at least not put up this much of a fight."

She whinnied her opinion of that, but continued on as we wove our way through the ever-deepening mist. Gradually we found ourselves in a tunnel that began as tightly packed tree trunks and slowly morphed into stone so smoothly I wasn't sure when it had switched over. I also wasn't sure how long we were traveling through there, as time seemed to fold in on itself in a very uncomfortable way. I found myself reaching into the pouch to touch Sheik's wrap for reassurance. Thankfully, the doorway appeared before us eventually.

A plain stone arch, it was tall enough for me to ride Epona through and (after spurring her a little to get her to move forward) we passed through...

...into brilliant, dappled sunshine of the a wooded glade. Again Epona whinnied, apparently feeling the need to impart some important fact but I was unable to translate it. "It's alright, we've both been here before, and this time the moon isn't about to fall and kill us."

The nicker she made got across her lack of reassurance at that and I had to chuckle as I patted her neck. Clock town wasn't far from here and at that thought, I set Epona to a gallop.

Clock town was exactly as I remembered it with a few minor changes. Kafei and his wife had apparently opened their own restaurant, judging by the painted sun mask on the placard of one new establishment I passed. It had been so long that no one seemed to recognize me, but at least I had the comfort of knowing that if I introduced myself to people they would probably recall me. For that fact alone I had tried many times to find my way back to Termina.

As we made our way through the town we passed beneath the enormous clock tower and, by the looks of it, we were nowhere near the Carnival of Time. A shame, I thought. It would have been a great sight to show Sheik, but now that I knew where Termina was I could always lead him back whenever.

I watched as we were passed by a man I "recognized" as the shooting gallery owner in the Market Place, back in Hyrule, and wondered for not the first time if there was another me somewhere out here, but as I'd never run into a Zelda or a Ganondorf, I thought the chances were slim. The three of us seemed to be singular creations of Hyrule and so did, for that matter, the Sheikah. I'd never even heard them mentioned here though the gossip stones bearing their symbols were here as well.

Down one street and up another, we wove our way through the busy town to the one place I thought might know where to look for the answers I needed: the Curiosity Shop. Termina had little magic outside its masks and the occasional potion, but the Curiosity Shop seemed to specialize in anything unusual, so they seemed the best guess. Beyond that, and I wasn't sure where I should go. When we reached the small shop on the south west of town, I dismounted and ducked inside.

The interior was much as I remembered as well, save a few furniture items rearranged and of course new wares for sale. "May I help you with anything?" the man behind the counter asked happily, earn to make a sale.

"Actually, I'm here looking for information, or rather information about finding information." When I got the odd look I'd expected, I continued. "I have an usual mask, one that allows me to change my physical form magically. I need to know about anyone that would be know anything about how those are made."

He seemed puzzled my no doubt unusual question but he paused to give it real thought. "Might I see it? Just out of curiosity; I've never seen a mask like that, though I've heard of them."

I didn't like the idea of that, but I needed his help so I warily drew out his face wrap. "Alright, but you can't put it on. Just look."

"My, my..." he said as he turned it over in his hands. "Such an odd choice. It must have meant something to the sprit host, though its very unusual. I've heard that the mask is always of the face of the spirit that inhabits the mask, but perhaps this person kept themselves hidden as a habit," he wondered aloud and I didn't bother to explain it to him. "I've heard that they can be made willingly by a ghost or by more sinister means. I wonder which this was?" he pondered as well and I had a strong dislike for this tone.

"Do you know anyone that can help me?" I asked as I took Sheik's scarf back from him. "I haven't much time to spare."

He seemed disappointed to have it taken away but didn't dwell on it. "Well that's a tricky matter indeed. Perhaps someone at one of the shrines? I've been told that the Gorons up at Snow Head have many old timers."

I nodded to myself, his suggestion sounding as good as any idea I had. "At their shrine?"

The salesman nodded. "Yes, that's what I've heard. Are you familiar?"

"A little," I replied with a shrug. "I haven't been there since I was a boy though."

"Well it hasn't changed much, really. The road there is rather snow covered at this time of year, what with it already moving into fall now, but it shouldn't be too hard to get there."

I had to agree that that idea was a perfectly good place to try first and thanked the man as I headed out. The mountain was no easy trek but he was right: the shrines were a solid idea and where I was probably going to end up trying first anyway. As I stepped out I patted Epona's head and looked up at the sky. It was late in the day, and I knew I'd never make it very far out of town before darkness fell.

After remounting Epona I steered her towards that new inn, the Laughing Sunshine.

It was a nice little inn and I looked around for what I thought I'd find, Anju. "Hello, there." I said as I stepped over to her. "Don't' suppose you've got a room free?"

"Actually we do, did you want it for- Oh!" she suddenly said, covering her mouth (and sending the glasses on her tray skittering to the one side). "Why it's you isn't it? Link, the little boy who found my Kafei way back when?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Glad to see you two opened your own place. Looks nice."

"Thank you," she said with a wide smile as she bowed (threatening to tip the glasses on the tray she was holding). "We-we do try," she stammered as she worked to right the glasses before they crashed and despite her best efforts I still ended up having to catch one for her. "Thank you. You're of course welcome to a room. If you have a horse just walk it into the sable behind the building."

"Alright. How much for the room?" I asked as I pulled out my pouch but she shook her head and waved a hand at my pouch.

"Oh, don't be ridiculous. After the help you were to Kafei and I, I wouldn't dream of charging you. No, really. This is our treat. How long will you be in town?"

"Probably just for the night. I'm a little pressed for time at the moment."

"What a shame," she said as she finally set down the tray. "Well why don't you take your horse around and I'll get you a plate of dinner?"

I thanked her for that and headed out to do just that. Epona was waiting impatiently outside when I came out and gave me an annoyed snort to make things clear. "I'm sorry. I know you don't like staying in town, but it's just for tonight. Tomorrow we ride up to Showhead to try and get Sheik out of this damn thing."

She nicked softly at that as I led her into the stables. "Thanks for being so understanding," I chuckled as I put her in a nicely kept stall and I continued to talk as I pulled off her saddle and bridle. "Who knows, we could get there and it'll be an easy fix get him back out, then we're back to Hyrule. ...Think he'll be alright with me getting him out?" I asked, frightened by just voicing my worry. "I cleared it with Zelda and she agreed that stopping the witch was worth loosing the mask and she gave it to me, just to be sure. ...Think that'll be enough for him?" I asked uneasily, and Epona nuzzled me with her velvety muzzle.

I had to laugh at the gentle comfort she offered and ruffled the tuft of hair between her ears. "Thanks. Well, I'll leave you to your oats and I'll see you tomorrow bright and early.

With a happy whiney she tossed her head and then buried it in a large bag of oats and barley. Still smiling, I headed back into the inn to where warm smells of my own dinner were waiting. "Do you like potato stew?" she asked as she sat down my bowl and a basket of rolls to go with it.

"You bet. Smells great. Thanks," I said with a smile as I took my seat. A few other customers were seated at their respective tables, but she sat down across from me and poured me a drink.

"So what are you doing that has you in such a rush?"

I thought while I swallowed the soup that was far hotter than I thought it would be but was still very tasty. The searing my tongue had gotten required me to take a long drink before I replied. "Well... I've got this mask that's not normal," I explained and I blew on my next spoonful. "It lets me transform into another person. Have you ever heard of masks like that?" I asked before eating another spoonful and when she nodded I continued. "Well, this person that the mask turns me into... I know it sounds impossible, but he's in the mask, his soul and he's aware of everything when someone wears it." When she looked confused at that I just nodded. "Yeah. And I have to get him out of the mask. I need his help and I want him out of it anyway because the way I have to talk to him is a pain, and yes I know it sounds crazy but that's the facts.

"If I can't find a way to get him out a lot of people could die and... And I couldn't talk to him anymore," I said, of all the stupid things to say, but it occurred to me that if the witch was bent on some kind of destruction of Hyrule then even if I escaped into Termina (with other people of course, I added quickly) then I'd loose my only ways to talk to him. I left my own thoughts to look up at her and saw the shock on her face at my admission about my task here. Honestly I was a little surprised myself. Since when did I talk like that?

"How many people could die?" she asked quietly and leaning forward a bit as she did.

"I don't know," I admitted with a shake of my head. "A city of Gorons (another city, not Showhead) was already swallowed up by a volcano eruption. I don't know what else is coming, or happening, now that I'm here."

"My... So how are you going to release your friend from the mask?"

"I don't know yet. The mask was made in my homeland, but they stopped making masks like his long, long ago, so I came here. Termina was the only place I could think of that might have the answer. I'm going to try the shrine at Snowhead and see if anyone there knows. After that, I'll probably try the Zora next."

"Have you tried the potion witches?" she asked and I paused with my spoon halfway to my mouth.

"Who?"

"K... Kome or something? And her sister? They own a potion shop out in the swamp. I've never been there but Kafei has been and they were talking about his mask when he was there. He said they seemed to know a lot about the magics of masks. You might want to try there first."

Koume and Kotake, the Rova twins as they were in this world: owners of a potion shop out in the swamp. I hadn't even considered them, as I'd always been a bit wary of them. They were the most magically inclined people I had ever met in Termina and if what Anjou said was true, then they had knowledge of enchanted masks. Suddenly I wanted to rush out and start for the swamp, but I knew that would be foolish.

Better to stay here and enjoy the rare pleasure of sleeping in a bed and eating a hot meal, though the delicious soup seemed to loose some appeal once I had a clear goal before me. _"...and a long road lined with great deeds as of yet undone,"_ I could suddenly hear Sheik say and I snorted a laugh.

This earned me a curious look from Anjou but I just waved off her unspoken question. "Just remembered something a friend said before."

"Your friend in the mask?" she asked and I nodded. "Are you very close?"

Now there was a question. Were we very close? On one hand we'd known each other a long time, but on the other we'd only just properly met a week or so ago. "Well... I don't know, actually. I first met him while someone else was wearing him, ...but the eyes were still his, if that makes sense." I shook my head at my own nonsense and downed the rest of my drink. "Not in the least, but hey, I try."

"No, it does. Really," she said quickly as I made to get up. "When Kafei and I met it was at the time carnival and he was wearing his mask. I didn't know anything about him but his eyes told me all I needed to know. Trust me, I understand completely, Link. Oh!" she said as she turned to see a customer waving for her. "I have to go and take care of things. Enjoy the rest of your meal and good luck tomorrow if I don't see you. Bring your friend by to visit once you have time," she asked as she left the table I nodded, having every intention of doing just that.

As I did, I realized why I had told her all those things. She remembered me, but at the same time here they didn't know me as a hero, I was just a kid that had helped out here and there. I looked around the room and saw faces I knew and knew that if I introduced myself they would know me and greet me just as warmly. While Hyrule was a sea of blank stares, Termina remembered me and gave me "warm smiles". Odd that this strange world would feel more like home than Hyrule, but I decided that I'd be making many more visits in the future to this place.

Sleep didn't come easy that night. Knowing where I could probably get the answers needed to release Sheik but having to wait till morning was killing me. For the thousandth time I turned over in my covers and let out a sigh of frustration.

"Are you very close?" I could hear Anjou ask and just as when she'd asked it, I wasn't able to come up with an answer. While her remarks about seeing Kafei in the mask reassured me that I wasn't utterly out of my mind, I still didn't know what if anything Sheik felt. Was I just the Hero? Did I even have a chance to be his friend or would station and prophecy keep him at arms length? Not that I wanted to settle for friends but I'd be thrilled to get it if it was the only option beyond servant and Hero.

My worries about whether he'd be all right with being released weren't so strong as they had been. I'd covered all my bases there for sure. Zelda didn't know why I was going to wreck the enchantment, but she knew I was and was fine with it. She had decided that the task at hand was bigger than keeping him as a mask, so that was good, and if worst came to worst and Sheik wasn't happy with that, she'd given the mask to me, so I was his charge now. It was my call. Now it was just a matter of what would come of things when he was released (and the witch was stopped, but that didn't seem so dire as the potential rejection from Sheik).

He'd seemed to like me. When he wasn't all formal, in those brief times he'd smiled at me it had appeared like he did. ... but maybe I was just imagining what I wanted to see. It was a pointless worry and I shoved it from my mind. Instead I let my thoughts drift back to the sight of him half dressed in the tent, smooth and lean in the flickering firelight. It was a nice memory and with it my dreams took a decidedly warm direction.

The swamp was never a pleasant place and I couldn't decide if it was reassuring that it hadn't changed, or disappointing. Well at least it hadn't gotten any worse, I figured. Eventually I had to lead Epona along though the thickening undergrowth and weaving between the murky pools was becoming aggravating. To be so close (hopefully) to finding a way to rescue Sheik and to have to go at an inch an hour through this place was just painful.

I started humming for a bit to try and burn through some of the nervous energy, but then I remembered that without an instrument I couldn't hold a note to save my life. Even Epona snorted at me to stop and I figured it was best to spare her ears as well as mine. In my pocket was my ocarina but playing while walking through a dangerous swamp seemed iffy even by my standards so I left it alone and went without music. It was well past noon when I saw the sister's potion shop before us.

"Hello?" I called as I walked in, Epona tethered outside. "Are you open?"

"Of course we are. Welcome, welcome!" said one of the sisters as she stepped out from the back room. Koume was dusting off her apron as she waddled out. "How might I be of service? I just finished a batch of green potion this morning, if you're so inclined."

As my magic was all gifts of from the Three and thus didn't work in this land, I wasn't. "No thank you. Actually I came here for information rather than potions."

"Information is it? Well, well, what could a young man like you be looking for that I can answer?" she asked amused and curious at the same time.

"I'm told you know about the enchanted masks and the magic behind them. I need to know about the type of masks that can transform you into someone else."

"Fragment masks? Oh, very rare, very rare. I should think such things would be forgotten by those your age, though. They aren't crafted very often when they're crafted at all."

I shook my head. "I'm not looking to have one made. I need to know how to undo one, to release the person inside the mask," I explained as I took note of the term she used. Fragment masks: I'd never heard that before.

"Undo it? Now, now, masks are made for a reason and some should be left as they are. Some are even gifts of the departed."

"I'm not going to release a dangerous one, you don't have to worry about that," I reassured her and suppressed a shiver at the memory of the Fierce Deity. (Thankfully I'd hidden that mask away where it wasn't likely to be found any time soon.) "And what do you mean that some are 'gifts'?"

"I mean just that," she said in a scolding tone as she eased herself into a large chair. "Gifts. When someone has died and their spirit remains sometimes it requires an act from the living to give them peace and on rare occasions when that happens the departed chooses to instead leave a fragment of themselves behind to create a mask. They are signs of thanks, though I wouldn't go as far as to say that they are signs of a good deed."

"Oh?" I asked as I took the chair she indicated. "Why is that?" I remembered the things I had done to be given the fragment masks from my youth and they had all been good things.

"It depends on the restless soul, of course. If the person was good then yes they would want something good done for them, be it a message to a loved one, the discovery of their remains, or so forth. _But_... if the person was a foul sort, then of course they will want something foul done. Vengeance for their death or a less severe wrong, a senseless kill for the fun of it, or other dark things. To assume that everyone that has a fragment mask has done something good for a lost soul is a bad assumption."

Understanding, I nodded slowly. That hadn't occurred to me. I'd been worried about the masks I'd used but actually they'd been gifts of thanks. Even though I didn't know how the deku mask had been created, I still felt much better. "But what about masks that are made form people that are still alive?"

"Oh..." she drew out with raised eyebrows. "Those are another sort of fragment mask all together and such dark things are a bit out of my range. These days they're just things of fairytales that people tell their children to scare them."

"Is there anyone would know about them?" I asked, leaning forward in my anxiousness. "This is very important."

She considered me for a long moment, trying to choose her response. After a minute she pointed out her window. "If you follow the road a bit more south, you'll reach a tree with a gouge in the side from an axe swing some time ago. Head back through the woods there and travel due east. There are no roads and no path to speak of, but after a while you'll come upon what looks more like a game trail. Follow that till you reach a sudden cliff face. It's not n easy climb, but there's a path that goes up. Follow it and after a little bit you'll reach the enchanter's home.

"He's an odd, old man, so I don't suggest you turn your back on him, but he knows all there is to know about Fragment masks. If anyone alive can answer your questions, it'll be him."

"Thank you," I said quickly and jumped to my feet. "I'll watch myself," I promised and headed out the door. Down the road till I see a tree that survived the axe man's blade, then turn and head into the swamp. From there it would be up a cliff and to the door of the Enchanter's house. The fact that Koume had warned me to wary of him wasn't lost on me in the least, but there was no time for cold feet. I'd keep my hand near my hilt the whole time I was there and see what came of it.

The swamp, I was being yet again reminded, was horrible. Oh, for the bliss of the Gerudo desert once more, searing dry heat and a sandy world devoid of all life save the occasional bush or lizard. I pinned for it as I swatted yet another hungry bug.

As hot as it was (and it _was_ hot) I had to keep a fire burning that night because the smoke warded off the vast majority of the insects and anything else that might be lurking out in the darkness. At least the heat of the fire was dry: a welcome change from the drowning humidity that was the norm in this hellish place. Maybe Termina wasn't so great after all.

I was pondering my horrible travel patterns when I heard the rustle that meant Deku shrubs. In a moment I was back on my feet and had my sword out but I was too slow with my shield and one clocked me straight in the skull. I blinked and raised up my shield but the blow had slowed me enough that another connected. I couldn't tell how many there were, but I heard Epona whinny shrilly before everything went black.

I awoke in a cell with an earthen floor and a low ceiling and knew at once where I was. I had wound up locked in the Deku Palace yet again.

To be continued.


	6. Chapter 5

Author's Notes: Thanks to my reveiwers, Liael, Fhulhi the Crazy, Kai-chan Akiyama, YamiGoddess, and Eisenkrähe. Sorry about the lack of Sheik in the last chapter. You get to see him in this one at least. 

Chapter 5

You'd think they'd redecorate after all these years, I thought to myself as I sat there, considering the absurdity of winding up locked in here again, at my age. Ganondorf: no problem, but a deku with a nut and I drop like a house of cards. I had to chuckle at that, though it was only half hearted. With a groan I stood up and rubbed my head.

There were no guards outside my door (promising) but as expected my sword and shield were gone. As were most anything else I had that was useful and I was in the process of figuring out a plan when my hand landed on the space of my belt that should have had the pouch that held Sheik's wrap... and found it done. Worthlessly I looked around the tiny cell but as expected found nothing but dirt. "Damn, thieves!" I hissed through my teeth and was relieved when I found my hookshot tucked in its normal pouch. A weird bit of cloth might grab their eye, but the hookshot was too strange for most to recognize as a potential weapon and valuable tool.

I stepped back and fired it at the small hinges of the door and after three booming strikes the door fell free. I knew that there would be guards rushing in at any minute but I wasn't worried (I was the one whose job it was to do crazy stuff like that, remember?). First thing I had to find was my shield and sword (and in that order, in this place), but before I could, two guards came running around the corner.

Ducking down, I let them get their shots off before I took aim with my hookshot and smacked them both in the head. Like puppets with their strings cut, they both toppled and I grabbed the spear out of one of their hands. It was only about three feet long, but a few loose swings reassured me that I could use it in combat if needed. Not as good as a sword, but it would do.

I headed down the hall and after a quick look right and left, I chose the right branch to go down first. It had been far too long since I'd been last here so I couldn't remember much and regardless it would be very, very difficult to navigate some parts of the palace without my deku mask. Much to my relief, I found a guards room and after searching it I found my shield and not a moment too soon. Just as I saw it at the bottom of a trunk three more guards rushed in.

I hid behind the lid of the chest and their shots bounced off of it for a while until I chucked the spear at them. While they were surprised, I caught one with my hook shot. Stupidly, one of them shot at the claw of it as it retracted but I took the opening to grab my shield and hold it against the deku nuts that quickly got redirected at me. This was more what I was used to and soon they'd been knocked out by their own artillery. With them down for the count I looked through the room more but had no luck at finding my sword. I retook my stole spear from before and moved on.

Having hit a dead end on this hallway, I turned to try the other one but had to suddenly duck behind some boxes in the hall to avoid being seen by a troop of twelve soldiers. They were all chattering away excitedly in their high voices as they ran past and I was thankful none of them noticed me. While two, three, or even seven deku were manageable, I didn't want to deal with a dozen at once. The next hallway didn't yield anything but a locker with a few of my less necessary items along with Saria's Ocarina. Thankful to have that back, I pressed on to find Sheik and my sword (not to mention Epona). I didn't know if they had Epona or if she'd escaped when they'd attacked. She usually did get away, but in the swamp I couldn't be sure.

This hallway didn't dead end, but instead turned to the right and continued till it reached an open platform over top a well-tended garden. As a deku, navigating this would have been easy, but as it was, I was lucky to have the hookshot. After looking to be sure no one was there and choosing a good tree below, I aimed and fired the gravekeeper's weapon. I felt my stomach lurch in that familiar way as I was rocketed through the air to land nimbly on the grass below. "Guards! Guards!" came a shrill voice and I snapped around to see a deku gardener that had been hidden by the bush he was pruning.

_'Damn it!'_ I thought to myself as I dodged his ill aimed nut. It was no challenge to bounce his next one back at him to knock him silly, but already the alarm had been raised. I barely had time to look around before three guards hustled through a door to the far left and I didn't' wait to hear if they just wanted to talk before I ran through a door just to the right of me. In a flash I was rushing down a short tunnel that opened up into another garden, though this one was more ornate. It had a huge lily pad filled pool held behind a large brick wall on the upper part of the room.

I _had_ planed on trying to maybe attempt something at least vaguely stealthy here, but that idea was chucked when I heard an especially shrill deku scream. "Human! Human! Guards!" she screamed and I turned to see a Deku in a frilly pink dress and bow and realized that this was the princess. '_Hasn't changed much,'_ I commented to myself as I ran away from her. I vaguely remembered this room and I hopped up onto the pond wall to hookshot my way to a platforms suspended far above.

As I did, the guards that had been following me from the last room burst in and were joined by four others from another door. I left the pond's wall just as two of the new ones threw bombs at me. I was long gone by the time they blew up. One fell harmlessly into the water but the other happened to land exactly where I had been: the wall. From my perch high above, I saw it explode and the wall it was sitting on crack dangerously before it gave completely.

In a flash, the deep pond rushed out into the garden below, washing through the bushes and trees and over the many deku in the room. I heard their cries go up and though I had yet to find Sheik or my sword, I remembered very well that Deku couldn't swim. With a sigh I aimed my hookshot down and shot to one of the trees that was nearly covered in water.

With a splash I plunged into the water and dove down to find the nearest Deku. Though it was more difficult with all the flailing he was doing, I managed to grab him by his collar tuft and drag him to a tree. "Hold on!" I ordered him before diving back under. I pulled up five others but had of yet not run into the princess and I knew time was running out. The next dive I took I stayed under longer than normal as I forced myself to search better and caught a flash of pink at the far side of the room.

I kicked off a tree and shot myself towards her as quickly as possible to find her struggling to stand on a bush to get her head out of the water. Sadly the bush couldn't support her so she was mostly flailing inside it. To make matters more fun, at the sight of me she started into a terrible panic and tried to punch and kick me as well as she could as I drug her to the surface.

Once she broke the surface of the water she sputtered and gasped only a moment before she started screaming. "Help! Help! The human is trying to drown me! Help!"

"Right!" I snapped as I fought to keep a hold of her so she didn't slip back under again. "That's why I'm holding you up above the water, you idiot. I must be trying to drown you in the air!" I spat as I continued to fight her and navigate her to the remains of the wall. "Stop struggling you maniac!" I shoved her at the wall and she hit it perhaps a little harder than necessary but it knocked the wind out of her for a few seconds, which made it so much easier to get her up onto the wall. "There! Your welcome! You'd think you'd have grown up a little after all these years but I guess I was insane to think so!" I spat angrily as I turned to look around for the other guards.

Thankfully people on the platforms above had lowered ropes to save the few other guards from drowning. It looked like they'd all come out of this alive. I climbed up onto another part of broken wall (wanting to keep as much water as possible between me and the princess) when I heard shouts from above. "Halt! Raise your hands or we'll fire."

I looked up to see the guards above all had weapons trained on me and I could only sigh miserably. "You've got to be kidding me! I just saved those people!" but when they didn't budge I swore softly under my breath as I shoved my hands in the air.

"He tried to drown me!" shouted the princess again and I glared at her.

"You're unhinged!"

"I am not!" she denied, little hands on her sopping wet hips. "You made those guards throw bombs at you to blow up the wall. It was all you're doing."

"I have bombs of my own, you mental case. If I wanted to blow it up, I would have!"

"Well-!" she started, clearly not liking that her "logic" was being foiled. "Well-!"

"Princess..." came a booming voice from above and I looked up again to see the old deku king. "I think that's enough. Bring the young human up here," he ordered and walked back out of sight.

---

The royal hall was exactly as I remembered it and I shifted my weight awkwardly as my shoes squished. Stupid guards, tossing around bombs when there's a walled off pond in the room. "So it seems I have you to thank for my daughter's life," the king said evenly as his daughter stamped at the idea. "Though I believe this is the second time. Is this right…? Link?"

I blinked, taken aback by this question, as the king hadn't known me in this form, but rather only while I was wearing the deku mask. The princess wasn't quite so speechless. 'What?! Link? The boy who saved me? He wasn't like him; he was a proper deku hero! Father-!"

"Silence!" he ordered and the girl fell silent. "Link?"

I nodded and bowed my head a little. "I really didn't think anyone would recognize me like this. How did you know?"

"Your bearing is much the same, though you've aged. We found this," he explained and tossed me something that I caught reflexively. There in my hand was my old deku mask and I looked back up at the King questioningly.

"It was found after you left and I thought it likely that instead of this mask being of you it was probably the disguise you wore while in my palace. While I am not pleased that a human strolled into my castle, it ended in the rescue of my daughter... twice," he added giving her a hard stare. "So I cannot be too upset by it. You have done my kingdom a great service twice, and both times it was unbeneficial for you to do so. I apologize for your interment in our cells. I'm having your things brought up as we speak."

"Thank you, very much," I replied and meant ever word of it. Soon I'd have Sheik back along with my sword and I'd be back on my way to the Enchanter. In no time at all, a pair of dekus appeared to the right hand of the King. At his gesture, they came up to hand me my sword and various pouches, while the princess watched me skeptically.

As I strapped everything back on, my brows drew together. I found the pouch that should have had Sheik's scarf oddly empty. "I'm sorry, your majesty?" I began and when he waved for me to continue I did so. "One of my things is missing. It's a white scarf."

The king frowned and looked to the guards that had brought up my possessions. Though he demanded to know the meaning of this, they begged that that was everything that had been taken from me. The king was unconvinced and sent them to find it with a tone that said not to come back without it. "I'm very sorry," he said as he turned back to me. "They will bring it here shortly. Now if you'll excuse me, I have other matters that demand my attention."

I dipped my head to him and watched as he made his way out of the room, leaving me with his wonderful daughter. "Don't you have somewhere to be, too?" I asked her, not wanting to put up with her anymore.

"Where did you rescue me from?" she asked haughtily.

"The water, remember?" I replied flatly as I took a seat on a wide ledge that ran around a statue. She was definitely not on my list of favorite people right then and I was sure I was going to be rather bruised by the next day thanks to her.

"No!" she snapped, indignantly. "I meant the first time, if you ever have before."

"Oh," I said as I rung out my hat. "The temple down here. You'd gotten yourself nabbed by Odolwa and if I remember correctly you were a pain then."

She blinked, not expecting me to answer correctly and I smirked at her. Unfortunately it wasn't quiet enough for her and she started quizzing me further till I had had enough. "Okay, okay, that's it. It was years ago; you do realize that, don't you? I'm sure you've got a flawless memory but I swear mine isn't and I don't really care if you believe me or not."

"Put on the mask," she ordered with a stamp of her feet.

"No." I have to admit it was fun saying "no" to the brat and I was hoping she'd demand it of me again so I could refuse once more.

"I said put it on!" she screeched and I actually chuckled as I told her no again.

"You'll put it on if you want this back," came a sing song taunt in a voice that was miles from the shrill squeak that the princess always spoke with. I looked up to see Sheik standing there. "Put it on," the princess ordered once more, this time sounding smug as she stood in Sheik's form.

"Take that off," I demanded in a low voice as I stood. "Now." I took a step towards her as I drew my newly returned sword.

"Hey!" she shouted indignantly, sounding very unnatural in Sheik's smooth voice. "You can't threaten me! I'm a princess!"

"You're a pathetic little thief! Now give him back to me, now!" While she was being shocked at my behavior I leapt forward and snatched it off her face, making Sheik's form vanish. In a flash of light, the princess was returned to her squat, little, pink form.

She squealed to get it back but I put it into my pouch before she could grab it. "What is your problem? Is this how you usually go about things? Just taking whatever you want?"

"Why wouldn't you just put on the mask?" she demanded with a stomp of her foot. "Would that have been so hard? And what's so special about that weird mask? You have the deku mask; why would you want that ugly one?"

"He's not ugly," I denied automatically, but the princess wouldn't be deterred.

"So put on the deku mask," she said as she took it out of my belt to shove into my hands.

"No."

"Come on!"

"No!"

"Just put it on!"

"Why the hell won't you leave it alone?!"

"Because I want to see you!!" she shouted at the top of her lungs with such force she had to catch her breath and looked very uncomfortable at her admission. "Well... Well, we found the mask of you and the butler said that they're only made when someone dies and the ghost turns into a mask, so we thought you were dead. I want to see you, alive. If you really are Link she added quickly.

I sighed and looked down at the mask. All right, I could see that. In her mind I was just someone that had swept in and saved her so I supposed it wasn't a bizarre thing to want. I took a deep breath and pressed the mask to my face and braced myself for the pain I knew was coming.

It felt like I was burning as all the muscles and bones in my body were broken and pulled into a shape they were never meant to have until it built and built and... was gone. When I blinked and looked around, I found my perspective lowered by a few feet and the princess was standing right before me.

"It is you..." she said softly, suddenly looking much less haughty and before I could react she had me wrapped up in a hug. I had barely started to process this before she smacked the side of my head. "You jerk! You just vanished! We didn't know where you'd gone; you just weren't there anymore! Then we found this mask and... and... You're a jerk!" she proclaimed with a huff and I could only shake my head.

"Sorry. I had a home I had to go back to. I didn't mean to worry anyone; I'm just one of those people that are always going somewhere to do something," I explained lamely with a shrug. "Can I take this off now?"

She nodded and I did so, and as ever found the pain as bad as it was the first time. There really wasn't any getting used to that and again it struck me as odd that Sheik's mask didn't hurt at all. "Are you going to leave again?" she asked warily.

"Yeah. I have things that need doing, and I've already lost too much time."

"Will you come back?"

I finished putting the deku mask away and looked back at her with a soft sigh. "Yeah, though I don't know when. I didn't know the way back to Termina but now that I do I figure I'll be coming back to visit when I can."

She seemed to brighten at this and nodded. "Alright. Have a good trip to where you're going, then."

I dipped my head to her and headed out of the palace. Somehow she reminded me a lot of Ruto when she was little.

As I exited the deku palace I pulled out my ocarina and played for Epona. As I had hoped, I heard her whiney almost immediately and she cantered up with a toss of her head. "Yeah, yeah... I know. I'm late," I said as I patted her nose. "Lets get going."

---

Finding my way back to the potions shop and then the tree that led to the Enchanter's was a bit of a challenge (in the way that endlessly wandering through a sweltering swamp is challenging), but after a couple days we found ourselves before a nearly sheer cliff face. It had what could somewhat be referred to as a path leading up it. There was no way that Epona could navigate that, so I left her below. "I'll be back as soon as I can, and hopefully I'll have Sheik with me."

She nickered back before wandering off to graze on the sparse grass that grew around the base of the cliff. As she did, I started my slow ascent up the rocky trail. By the time I reached the top I was uncomfortably aware of the straight drop that a fall would make, but luckily I navigated the path well enough to reach the top of the cliff.

There, I found myself on a flat plain with a sparse scattering of trees. It seemed this was where the swamp transitioned into the Ikana waste and again I had my concerns about this Enchanter. If he made his home all the way out here, and that close to the Ikana, then what sort was he? "I don't' suggest you turn your back on him," Koume had said, and I fully intended to follow her instructions. However she was in Hyrule, I had no problem with trusting her in Termina at the moment.

After an hour or two of walking, I saw a tiny, awkwardly built cottage that could only be the Enchanter's home. Seemingly kept upright by habit alone, it listed strongly to one side and had half a partial second floor with a badly supported balcony. Maybe his enchanting could also be used on architecture, I thought with a grin. As I reached the door, I wrapped my knuckled against it and waited.

It didn't take long before I heard shuffling inside and an old voice asked. "Who's this knocking at my door?" he opened it and I was very conscious of where my sword was as the old man peered out at me.

He had a short beard that was very gray and his face was heavily lined with age. His mouth was quirked at an odd angle and (curiously enough) his right eye was blue, while the other was brown. "Are you the Enchanter?" I asked tentatively.

He eyed me critically and a gnarled hand came up to wrap around the door as he did so. "That I am. What would a young boy like yourself be looking for me for?"

"Koume at the potion shop told me where to find you. I had questions about fragment masks."

That seemed to only make him more suspicious and when he closed the door again I thought I'd just ruined my chances, but then I head the sound of latches being drawn back and the door opened again. "That's an unusual topic these days, especially for a child. What do you want to know?"

"I was looking for information about the type of masks that don't come from ghosts, but are rather made from living people," I explained as I stepped inside. The interior of the house reminded me way too much of the witch Rova's. The walls were lined with shelves of old musty books and a rack stood by a tipped desk that was loaded down with scrolls. From what I could see of the next room it seemed to be lined with masks as well and I had a creeping feeling that I'd find a room of animals in cages if I went looking.

"Ah... that's why Koume couldn't help you. Such a dark topic for a young man. What brings you to it?" he asked as he eased himself into a chair that looked like it might be even older than he was.

I didn't want to mention Sheik now that I was here. This man put my nerves on end, but he was the only one that could give me the answers I needed. "I have a mask that was made like that a very long time ago. I need to find a way to get the person sealed within out of the mask and back to being a normal person."

The Enchanter's shaggy eyebrows went up at this and he leaned back a little as he regarded me. "An unusual request, but you are aware of why they're called 'fragment masks', aren't you? The likelihood that there's anything left of the person whose image is sealed in mask..."

"I know how much is left. I was able to speak to him through a hiccup in some dream magic. He's perfectly fine inside it, just trapped. I need to get him out."

The Enchanter pondered this for a minute or so, and though the silence stretched out I didn't hurry it. It was obvious the man was considering something and I needed his help, regardless of what sort of a man he was. "It won't be easy to do. I can't remember the last time I did it," he said and I only nodded. "Let me see this precious mask," he asked as he reached out a withered hand.

Handing Sheik over was the last thing I wanted to do, but my options were limited. Hesitantly, I pulled out the wrap and handed it over.

"Unusual... unusual... The item must have had significance to the subject for something like it to be used instead of a proper mask. It was enchanted well to survive the ages, thankfully, so there hasn't been any degeneration. Yes, yes, I think I can extract the subject from this," he said and I felt relief well up in me. It was possible and he could do it.

"How long will it take?"

At my question his twisted mouth slid into a smirk. "Well that depends on how long it takes you to pay my price."

I kept myself from sighing, but I wanted to. I knew there would be a cost for this, but I was very worried that it would be something I didn't want to pay. "What do you need?"

"There's a valuable relic that I've wanted to collect for quite sometime, but these old bones aren't suited for such things. I've traced it to the far side of the Ikana waste, up in a cave in a cliff. I can provide you with a map. Retrieve it, and you can have your _friend_."

As unpleasant as the wastes were, it seemed like a small cost given all that was riding on this, but I needed to be very sure with this crafty old man. "So if I bring this whatever to you, you'll pull him out of the mask and he'll be a normal flesh and blood person with his soul and mind intact? Nothing of him would be left behind or destroyed?"

"Only the prison he resides in," the enchanter reassured steadily.

"And he'd be free to leave here, no strings attached?"

"Absolutely. You give me the item and your friend is set free, complete and whole." He nodded.

"Alright. What do you need me to get?" I asked as he handed me back Sheik's mask and shuffled over to his scrolls.

"Oh, I wouldn't concern myself with that," he replied cheerfully (though the warmth was lost from it). "You'll know it when you see it." He handed me a fresh scroll and when I unrolled it I found a clear enough map. It was certainly better directions than I'd had to find this place and I'd managed all right (not counting the deku).

I wasn't stupid so I knew that something was up, but as I'd said before, my options were limited. I nodded and pocketed the map. "Alright. I should be back into only a few days."

"I'll prepare for your return then," he said with his crooked smile and I turned and headed out. I was missing something and I was sure that this "item" was something I wouldn't want to give the old Enchanter but I'd burn that bridge when I came to it. I needed Sheik not only for myself but for Hyrule. Everything hung on me getting him out of that mask and I was willing to sacrifice a lot towards that end.

To be continued.


	7. Chapter 6

Author's Notes: As ever thanks to my reviewers Cap'n BlackRose, Kai-chan Akiyama, Some1, kitkat78, Eisenkrähe, and drace-hunter. I hope you all enjoy this chap as I freeze my special parts off. shiver!

Chapter 6

The desert stretched out before me, barren and dry. If I tried, I could almost pretend I was back in the Gerudo lands, but I knew that was a luxury I couldn't afford. The Ikana lands were dead in every way and the ghosts, redead, and gibdos were everywhere. War of some sort had destroyed all inhabitants of the land and an evil bargain had scorched the landscape with an eternal drought that killed everything else. The temperature was milder here than it had been in the Gerudo lands, but that only seemed to make the area emptier. Epona stamped her feet and I patted her neck.

"Don't worry. We'll move fast and keep well clear of them." I had just filled all the water skins (because I knew I'd find no water within the waste) and with hope we'd be back out of there in three days time. I took another moment to survey the cursed land before I spurred her on into the expanse before us.

With the land being a continual brown gray devoid of most everything but dead trees, it was easy to loose track of your progress. Everything looked just like everything else, and I was thankful I had a clear compass direction to be going in. Otherwise I could have searched it endlessly and never found whatever it was that I was looking for.

Again the secrecy about my target rolled around my head, but I didn't have any illusions about it. Whatever it was, it was certainly something I didn't want to hand over, but that was a matter to deal with later. I needed Sheik out of the mask or there was no way to stop the witch, Rova, so this whatever was a necessary evil that would have to be fixed later. I didn't like that mentality but in this case it was necessary.

We came over a hill and found a cluster of redeads but thankfully I not only stayed out their reach but I also kept control of Epona when one of them screamed at us. Her eyes were wide and her nostrils flared but she was keeping with me still. I didn't want to think about what would happen if she got away from me in this hell. Though time was of the essence I'd considered leaving her behind for this, for just that reason. "I'm sorry girl, we'll get out of here as soon as we can. Just stay with me." I didn't much relish the idea of her panicking and one of these creatures getting a hold of her.

We rode all day and as it darkened I took more than an hour to hunt and scout for a safe place to bed down (if there was such a thing in this place). "I need you to stay here during the night," I told her as I tied her to a fallen tree. "This isn't any place to wander." We shared a bit of the water and I slept against the tree she was bound to. If she stirred it would rock the tree and we could be off in a flash.

Almost the whole night went by without incident, but as morning was just cresting, the tree rocked violently and I was woken by her whiney. There, in the weakening darkness was a floating lantern. A high laugh accompanied it and I drew my sword quickly. Poe were the least of the dangers in the waste but it was enough to potentially scare Epona off so it had to taken care of quickly. "Stay there," I told her and headed towards the swinging lantern.

It switched its focus to me and it didn't take long for it to try to dive at me while spinning its hot lantern. It was easy enough to side step it and when it showed itself I made a leaping lunge at it. The ghost was comically shocked to have been defeated as my blow landed and it dissolved into a tiny blue flame. I had no interest in keeping it so I jogged back to Epona.

"See? Not so bad," I reassured her as I undid her reins from the tree. After sharing a drink with Epona, I remounted her and checked the map.

By my guess we were over halfway there and though I was pretty sure we could have made the target before needing to sleep, I didn't know what we'd find there. The likelihood that it would just be sitting on a little pedestal, waiting to be taken was pretty slim and I figured it was better to be rested for whatever it was that I was riding into.

That day was very much like the first, though we had more close calls, such as a gibdos coming very close to scaring Epona into an utter panic. Crumbling homes appeared from time to time, but I knew not to venture close. All to often they provided easy clustering spots for redead and more than once I had wondered if that was because it had been their house when they'd been alive. It was a chilling thought that I preferred not to dwell on. Better not to think of who the redead once were.

Of all the places I could think of, I thought this would be the last one that would be good to show Sheik some day. Not exactly a fun place to sight see, I thought with a wry smile, though the heat might at least be a welcome change from that snow bound rock he was stuck on at the moment. This place always unnerved me so it was good to keep my thoughts on light things like that. Better to think about Sheik and getting him out of the mask rather than what I might find over the next grade.

The sun was high when I saw the cliff face the Enchanter had described. I dismounted as we neared it and found myself before a decrepit set of stone stairs twisting up the cliff to a doorway high above. Not quite a cave, but I thought it was probably what I was looking for. The foot of the stairs was framed by an archway that once was covered with intricate designs but the punishing winds of this place had rounded and smoothed them all till only the general shapes of many pointed stars, spirals, and what looked like eyes in a few places.

I kept my sword and shield ready as I made my way up the stairs and at the top I found the arched opening was decorated much like the arch below. The interior was dark but the torches along the wall were easy to light and the decided lack of enemies or traps was actually more unnerving than the redeads I'd been dealing with. I didn't even run into a skulltula as I would have expected in this sort of place, but perhaps the lifelessness of the surrounding area left them with nothing to feed on.

Though there was seemingly nothing to be wary of, I kept my pace slow and careful. All the places I had been in my life had taught me caution. Charging blindly down what appeared to be an empty hallway was a good way to get jumped by something or fall down a hole that was hidden by an illusion.

Still, despite my precautions, the tunnel turned out to be exactly as it looked and it ended into a wide round room ringed with unlit torches. With my spells restricted by not being in Hyrule, I was forced to manually light them, though it had no effect other than making the large wall at the far end easier to view.

It was about ten feet wide and twenty tall and here the winds hadn't been able to scour away the carvings that adorned it. Stars that had so many points they were more like thorns were dancing with wide, maniacal grins on spiraling tracks, while disembodied, wild eyes looked on, and mouths twisted in hysterical laughter were floating here and there. Geometric patterns made up the border and I had a sick feeling that I knew what was hidden here.

Maybe what had happened to the Ikana wasn't that big of a mystery after all...

Bracing myself for whatever might occur, I stepped up to it and saw that in the center of it all was a pair of eyes that, unlike the others, were closed. With a swallow, I raised my ocarina to my lips and tried to remember the Termina song of awaking. It took me a couple tries but when I had played it properly, the two eyes opened as I had thought they would, but instead of plain stone, they were bright and went from red through yellow to green to finally end in a pin point of purple for the pupil.

Reflexively I jumped back, but the eyes showed no notice of it. Instead the stone around them seemed to melt into a new shape and took on brilliant colors until there, mounted on the wall before me, was Majora's Mask...

Of all things to send me for, I had never dreamt the Enchanter was sending me after this evil thing. I wanted nothing more than to turn around and leave but I knew that would spell destruction for Hyrule (though to hand it over meant the destruction of Termina, didn't it?). Also, I had just woken the damn thing and to leave it sitting there to be snatched up by someone else wasn't wise either.

With a grimace of distaste I snatched it off the wall and shoved it roughly into my pack. That done, I quickly looked around and listened to be sure I hadn't activated some failsafe... but nothing seemed to have changed. I looked back to the wall and saw a blank spot where the mask had sat. It was a foul situation any way you looked at it but in this horrid set up I had something besides Majora's mask: I had an idea. Poorly thought out: maybe, reckless: more than likely, potentially lethal: unarguably, but with the mask in my bag and the idea fresh in my mind I rushed back out of Majora's Hold.

I had wasted no time in getting back on Epona, but instead of riding back towards the Enchanter, I had her at a solid gallop heading due west, back towards the fields surrounding Clock Town. At no time did I need to hurry her as she seemed to sense the frightening race we were in. I had to give him the mask, that was the price for Sheik and thus the price for Hyrule, but that didn't mean I was stupid enough to hand it over with no preparations. Termina would not be the sacrifice made to save Hyrule; that was unquestionable.

The Ikana waste was treacherous and few could navigate it. For me it was nothing too challenging, but the Enchanter didn't know that. As far as he knew I was some dumb kid from Clock Town that had gotten attached to the person in the mask. That was especially likely by the way the man had said '_friend_' and hopefully that assumption would buy me enough time to make my detour go unnoticed.

It had to, I told myself. It was my only hope.

---

I reached the Enchanter's home a week after leaving it and though Epona was shaking with exhaustion, she held herself well and I left her enough of a distance from his door to keep him from seeing how worn she was. I was also careful to approach his home from the north to better seal the illusion that I had come straight back from the waste. Without a moment's hesitation, I knocked at his old wooden door.

He opened it before I had struck the door three times, and his surprise at seeing me was clear on his twisted face. "Well, now! I had thought you lost to the waste. What a surprise is this. Come in, Come in," he said hurriedly as if I couldn't see through his pleasantries to the hungry glint in the fool's eye. "Were you successful, child?"

I nodded and patted the strap to my bag. "Yeah, I found it. Nearly got myself killed for this silly looking thing," I lied easily. "Why is it so special?"

"You didn't put it on, did you?" he asked as his eyes kept flickering to the bag though I could tell he didn't want them to.

"No. Looked like a kid's carnival mask and I didn't much want to wind up some sort of a clown and not be able to get it off." The "not getting it off" part was certainly true and this lunatic was unhinged if he thought he could control Majora. At least the skull kid hadn't known what it was before putting it on.

"Let me see it," he asked, practically panting to have it so near.

"Uh huh. And have you grab it off of me and then kick me out? You said you'd get my friend out the mask if I gave you this thing. You make good on your end, or this whatever it is can meet my burn pile at home."

He hissed at that and I had to fight to keep the smirk off my face. "Why should I go through all that effort when you might not even have it?" he countered. "You've been gone ages, probably got lost or, even more likely, got a good look at the waste and decided to trick me and simply say you had it."

"I've got it!" I shouted, annoyed at the accusation. "It was murder to get and you're some sort of magician. How do I know you wont use some spell to get it off me when I show it to you?"

"If I could," he snapped. "I would have snatched the bag from you by now! Now show it, or your friend can stay in his mask!"

That was the kicker right there, and he knew it, but that was all right. I didn't think he could take it off me and more likely than not he was probably rather harmless as he was now. So long as he got Sheik out before he had the mask, everything would turn out all right... I hoped.

With a dramatic sigh, as if I hadn't expected to have to do this, I yanked Majora's mask out the bag as if it was nothing but a child's toy and showed it to him. "There. You happy. I've got your ugly thing. Now, you hold up your end of the bargain and I'll hand it over."

"Deal," he replied sharply and extended his gnarled hand. "Give me your mask and I'll retrieve your_friend_."

I pushed the mask back into my bag and pulled out the wrap, but paused. "The deal is I get him, whole and complete and he's free to leave. You won't try to catch him or leave some part of his soul behind? He'll be exactly as he is in the mask? No tricks?"

"No tricks. Now give it over!" He was impatient to get Majora's mask.

"Fine," I said and handed him Sheik's wrap. "But you pull anything and you'll never see this thing again," I promised with a pat to my pack again.

He sneered at me and hobbled over to a circle I only now noticed had been drawn on the floor. I was rather sure it hadn't been there before and as he sat Sheik's wrap in the middle of it my assumptions about it were confirmed.

Thankfully I didn't need to fake being calm just then. The Enchanter would assume I was only nervous about Sheik's welfare and though I was (excessively) the second object that was resting in my bag was also cause for my palms to sweat. Well, if this killed me, I reasoned, at least Sheik would get to see me go down in a blaze of glory (though perhaps I should have shown him the path back to Hyrule, I thought with a frown). Ah well, I'd just have to survive, then.

The Enchanter was going through an intricate process of incantations, causing a surge of a strange power, and finally, he poured a glowing bottle over Sheik's wrap. I saw it was some sort of bottled fire a moment too late to stop it from falling onto the mask and for a horrible moment, I thought he had destroyed Sheik's mask, and Sheik within it, but thankfully the fire didn't burn the mask, but merely covered it.

The flames swelled as the Enchanter's continued chants rose along with Sheik's wrap. At first it just hung there limply but slowly it wound itself up and around to sit suspended as if some person constructed of purple fire were wearing it about their face. The rhythm of the chants were gradually increasing till they reached a crescendo and... stopped. For a half a second everything was still and silent with only the eerie purple flames moving till suddenly the flame burned brilliant orange and burst outward in a blinding brilliance.

I was dazzled for a moment, blinking away the dots before my eyes, but then I was able to refocus and see. Standing there in the circle with the white cloth wrapped securely about his face, was Sheik. A very confused Sheik at that.

He looked one way then started as he found he could move and took a few frightened steps backwards before drawing his weapons. Crouched low, he looked dangerous and his eyes immediately focused on the Enchanter. "Your friend seems a little unfriendly," he said humorlessly to me and only then did Sheik's eyes focus on me, and widen.

"H-" he started to say Hero but with a sharp, tiny shake of my head the crafty Sheikah smoothly slid out of it to say, "How?"

The last thing I needed was the old man to wonder why I carried the title "Hero" and I was grateful he caught on so fast. "This man undid the spell. I promised you I'd get you out of there, didn't I?"

"I... didn't think it possible," he replied and I could tell by the brief look he gave me that he was unconvinced I'd gotten the proper permission from Zelda, but that was the least of my concerns.

"No faith in me at all," I joked lightly, but Sheik's eyes told he knew it was fake, though he wasn't sure where the danger was. "I hunted till I found this Enchanter and after I toiled to get him his payment, he got you out."

"But-" he began but I cut him off.

"We'll talk once we get back on the road. Everything is gonna be like it was back at the old well. First, lemme give the old man his price and my thanks."

The old man man looked like he'd had a heart attack from joy at hearing that, but I was more concerned with Sheik's reaction. Though it had been Zelda holding the reins, he still knew what had happened at the well. That Zelda, as him, had fallen and I had shielded them. I prayed that would be enough of an indication that he was to get behind me, that I would protect him from what was coming. I thanked the Three (or maybe the Four, as we were in Termina) when Sheik moved (seemingly) happy to stand behind me as I pulled out the mask.

As I extended it to him he snatched it from my hands and let out a wavered laugh that made me think that he didn't have far to go when Majora drowned him in madness. "What is that thing, anyway?" I asked casually.

"Power..." he breathed as his eyes were locked on the mask.

While he was so fixated, I turned to Sheik a brief moment and mouthed the words: "When I say to: run!" That said, I turned back just in time to see him press the evil thing to his face and I took a few steps back against Sheik. I could feel how tense he was and didn't envy him. Things like this were bad enough, but to not know what you're looking for is even worse.

As the mask fused to his face, I saw him start, then struggle. 'What?! No! No...!" he desperately attempted to remove it, but it was too late. The struggles slowed till he was bent over, and his cries of panic were replaced with the horrid laugher I remembered far too well.

His body had transformed through the struggles and now he was dressed in far more brilliant clothing. He looked up at me, straightening more fully than the old man ever had in my presence, and grinned widely. "Well... well... look who this old fool found to fetch me! I didn't think I would have you to thank for my rescue, Link!" he shouted and with a thrust of his hands a force blew out from him with a sudden hurricane.

"Get out!" I shouted to Sheik and, still shielding him from the tearing winds, I shoved him out the door. We were able to run a few dozen feet before the house exploded outward, leaving only a foundation and widely strung rubble about the grassy ground.

"I truly do owe you a _debt_ don't I? You were so very helpful those years ago," he spat as he hovered above the ground where the house used to be. "But you are the one that got me from the hold, so I'll be generous," he teased in his singsong voice. "Your little marionette there can leave. Safe and sound. You, unfortunately, get to die today, Link, but at least your little whatever will be skipping off home," he cackled and I didn't take my eyes off of him when I told Sheik, "Run! Now!"

"No! I don't-!" he tried but I wouldn't have any of it.

"If you die," I hissed at him, turning to come within inches of his face. "Hyrule is lost. Do you understand? Lost! Get clear, stay clear, no matter what happens. Now!" I suddenly shouted. "Run!"

He hesitated a moment, but thankfully the Sheikah's duty was paramount and he did as I said. He'd barely gotten ten feet from me when Majora sent a ball of fire at me.

Distracted by worries for Sheik's safety, I almost took it solidly, but as it was it only grazed my arm. "Ha HA!" he jeered. When I grabbed my injured arm and stumbled, Majora was happy to believe I was leaving myself wide open, but in reality I was shoving my hand into my bag before tossing it clear.

"Don't cheer just yet. You think I'd walk into this empty handed?" I asked with a vicious tone to my voice. When I stood up he only had time to glimpse the mask before I shoved it onto my face... and howl with fury as my form twisted into another shape.

Rage... Rage was the first thing I felt, smelt, tasted... it filled those and all of my other senses in a tumbling, snowballing force that made my veins burn and my soul scream out for bloodshed and battle. I was not myself, but only an echo of Link imposed on another more brilliant being... Brilliant enough to stain the world red and my hands gripped the handle of my long, twisting sword in gleeful anticipation of the great battle that was at hand. "Distressed, Majora?" I asked in a voice that was at once my own and at the same time, not my own.

"You-! You got it back?! You cheat! You liar! You-! You-! That's why you were late!" he accused as he sent another ball of fire at me, but I rolled to the side easily this time, Sheik driven from my thoughts. "You were getting the Fierce Deity's mask back, you cheat!"

I laughed viscously and drew my bow back to fire many frost-covered arrows at him. With a cry he fell and tentacles leapt out at me but I nimbly darted from side to side as I charged him. He barely had time to throw up a barrier before my now helix shaped blade sliced him in two. As it struck the barrier, I saw it begin to crack. "Come on Majora... make it a fight!" I shouted and shoved him backwards with my blade, shattering the shield as I did.

He rolled back but quickly recovered, regaining his lofty perch above me, but that was no matter. This time I drew my bow and the arrows that struck him were imbued with pure light. I had no love for the light at that moment, but more importantly I knew that Majora didn't like them either. He screamed terribly as he fell backwards out of the sky again.

I charged him once more, but this time he was ready. He sent blasts of flames along the ground at me all the while gibbering to himself. This was a new trick and I was thrown back. I dimly heard someone shout, but the burns the fire made across my skin felt like beautiful pleasure and I was back on my feet in an instant. This was a fight!

Dodge, blast, arrows, slash, dive, scream, shout: the battle was a glorious haze of moments that blurred in my mind. Furious triumph was my only thought and the wounds we both bore only raised the potential pleasure of that triumph. I wasn't aware of how long the battle lasted, time had stopped mattering at the second I donned the mask. When he rose up once more to shower me with spells, I saw my opening.

He was building for some great blast, I was sure, but he would never be able to complete his casting. I took his preoccupation as a chance to fire my hookshot dead at his chest. In a flash I was drug through the air towards him and for a fraction of a second he saw me coming... and the blade I had extended towards him with my free hand. A heartbeat later, my sword was plunged into his chest up to the hilt and with a stuttering gasp he fell. While he tumbled backwards through the air, I pushed off him to yank my sword out of his chest and land lithely on the ground below.

I stood from the crouch I had landed in to see the body he was wearing flicker away with a few incoherent ramblings of hatred till there was only the mask laying still on the ground. With a rush of satisfaction, I stepped over it and plunged my blade into the face of Majora, splitting the wooden artifact in two.

A flash of light was expelled from it and then... nothing. I let out a savage cry of triumph at the sight of the destroyed mask. The intense blur of fury had not yet ebbed when I heard a moment behind me. "Hero? Is-" someone started and I didn't give them enough time to finish as I spun around at them.

My sword was blocked, once, twice, as the masked man used his two blades to fend me off, but I put my full force behind the third attack and he was knocked backwards. Before he could fall, though, my hand shot out and caught him by the throat. For the first time, I recognized this masked person. "Sheik, isn't it? I thought he told you to run," I asked with a cruel laugh and drug him within an inch of my face, enjoying the fight or flight convict that danced in his red eyes.

"Very stupid, boy, to get so close to something so far beyond you," I rumbled lowly and savored the scent of fear and adrenalin that was coming off of him. My mouth slid into a vicious smile as my eyes fell for a moment to his lips. "I wonder if you taste as good as he thinks you will..." I pondered aloud and leaned in to close the distance... but then something was wrong. Very wrong...

A twisting had surged up in me and memories of before rushed in. A division between me and myself began to form and soon it wasn't me and myself, but rather me and him. The Fierce Deity and me, and he had his hand around Sheik's throat, was trying to harm him or worse! I struggled against the strangle hold he hand on my mind and in the fight he released Sheik. "Fine!" he shouted as he shoved Sheik from us, but I wasn't content. Instead, I wrestled and pushed myself back to the foreground. Fighting him every inch of the way, I managed to get my hands to my face and, digging my fingers into the side of my now pale and tattooed face, I pulled the mask _away!_

In a flash of light, the Fierce Deity was gone, and I returned. Gone was his spiraling sword, white hair, marked face, gleaming armor, and the rest of it. Returned to my true self, I tried to stabilize myself, but it proved too much of a challenge after the two battles I had just fought. I found myself falling into blackness, and as I did, I thought I heard someone call out for me again.

To be continued.


	8. Chapter 7

Author's Notes: As ever thanks to my reviewers Saiyou-the-lover, Eisenkrähe, Fhulhi the Crazy, Meg, Cap'n BlackRose, and Lavender Tears. 

Chapter 7

I woke to find it dark and I tried to sit up. It sounded like a reasonable thing to do, but apparently my body thought I was an idiot for even suggesting it and soundly told me so... in the form of a wave of nausea. Of course this was a silly stance for my body to have, as getting up was necessary and I'd done it many times in the past. I was about to continue to argue with it until it saw reason, when I heard a soft, mellow voice ask, "Link? Are you awake?"

A part of me got a silly smile on its face to hear that voice, but thankfully the body was too resolute in its rebellion to let it show. "Sheik?" I asked as I tried to sit up and see him, but before I could he was over me and keeping me down in the bedroll.

"Wasn't it you who told me not to get up?" he asked with smiling eyes. "Stay there, that... whatever it was, took a lot out of you. You've been out for hours and hours. Are you alright?"

His features were partially obscured by the darkness, but my mind could fill in the parts that were omitted. "Yeah. I'll be fine. Don't worry." Now my brain was working well enough to remember what had happened and my eyes went quickly to his neck. "Are you okay? Did he hurt-" but I was cut off by Sheik's shaking head.

"No. Just startled me. He's fast," he added.

"That he is. Where did you put his mask?"

"In your bag again. I'm sorry I didn't listen to you. You said stay back no matter what and I foolishly approached before you called me back. I could have ruined everything by not doing as you said," he apologized but I patted his hand reassuringly.

"Don't worry about it. You didn't know I was a threat, too. It was an easy mistake to make and I didn't have time to tell you what was going on. Don't worry about it."

He nodded, though still looked faintly troubled at his own disobedience. "I collected the pieces of the other mask, though I think he destroyed it. What will you do with them?"

"Well," I began. "I'll put the Fierce Deity back in the hole I hid him in before, and maybe I'll find somewhere new for Majora just to be safe, but we'll do that later, once Hyrule is safe again."

He nodded and reached over to grab something. He came back into my field of view with a water skin. "Are you thirsty?" he asked and I nodded, suddenly very aware of how dry my throat was. He brought the skin to my lips and slipped a hand under my neck to support my head as he helped me get a couple good swallows.

"Thanks," I said, as he lowered my head back down gently and I thought his hand lingered under my neck a little longer than it had to, but then it was gone and I couldn't be sure. "He usually leaves on his own. The Fierce Deity, I mean. I've never had to fight him off. He puts up a hell of a fight," I said with a half smile and I was rewarded with a soft chuckle from Sheik. It was a nice sound I thought.

"So, how are you liking Termina?" I asked to fill the silence that was threatening to gather around us.

"What?"

"Termina," I repeated, and gestured around us weakly. "How are you liking it, you know, now that you aren't being attacked by strange mask monsters?"

He smiled at my remarks and looked around us. "Is that were are? I've never heard of it. Is it near the woods?" he asked as he looked at the thickening tress to our right, but I shook my head.

"We're not in Hyrule. Termina is the name of the land and we're somewhere between the Deku Swamp and the Ikana Waste," I explained and his head snapped back to me, his eyes wide.

"Not in Hyrule? But how... how is that possible?"

"Oh, its not as hard as you'd think. I've stumbled upon quite a few places over the years. I'm actually not in Hyrule that much anymore, to be honest. There's rarely anything to do, though this is the first time I've been back to Termina since I was a kid. It's a nice place," I explained and let out a yawn. Already my weary body was demanding more sleep.

"And the princess Zelda is alright with you leaving the kingdom so regularly?" he asked and I shrugged.

"I don't know if she knows, or rather knew. I told her I had to leave Hyrule to get into the fire temple so she knows now but I don't think she did before. I'm always around when she needs me..." I trailed off with another yawn. "I'll have to bring you back here later on in the year so you can see the Carnival of Time. It's full of streamers and these things called sparklers, and a circus is in town and everyone is celebrating..." Despite my attempts, the world started to fade into sleep. "You'd like it..."

---

I woke next time to brilliant sunlight in my eyes and I groaned. With a few choice words about inconsiderate celestial bodies, I sat up and looked around. I was in my bedroll not too far from where the Enchanter's house had been. A stack of wood was piled up for a fire to my left. Epona was grazing off to the side, but Sheik was nowhere to be found. "Sheik?" I asked and when I still saw no sign of him, I called out again for him, louder this time.

"I'm here," I heard him say as he came back into view from the woods. "I was trying to find us some breakfast while you were sleeping, but it seems like it's been too long since I hunted."

I smiled and shook my head. "Don't worry about it. You're entitled to be rusty. I've got rations in that saddle bag there," I said, pointing to it and then pulled myself into a better sitting position.

He got the saddlebag and rooted through it till he found some trail bread, jerky, and a small bit of cheese wrapped up. "We'll be back in Hyrule before night, I think, so we might as well kill the rest of that," I said as he pulled it all out.

With a nod, he brought it over and sat it down with the water skin as well. I reached over and broke the bread and cheese into equal parts while he shoved the jerky strips into two piles. I was already tearing into the jerky when I saw he was just holding the cheese under his covered nose and smelling it. When he saw my inquisitive look he dipped his head. "I'm sorry, Hero. It's just... I didn't need to eat in the mask; I was just sustained, though I melted snow to drink. ...It's been a long time..."

I nodded to that with a smile, happy that he was finally getting to enjoy even the most basic things about living again. He shifted his face wrap up a little so he could slip the cheese behind it deftly. I almost choked on my own jerky when I heard the soft moan of pleasure he made at the taste and forcefully kept my eyes down so that he didn't see me turn red.

"If you like that that much," I jested, trying to hide my own reaction to his moan. "I'll definitely have to being you back here so you can eat at a restaurant a friend of mine owns. Best potato soup I've ever had."

He laughed and put the remainder of his cheese down to go for the bread. "I don't even remember what potato soup tastes like, it's been so long," he said with a smile in his voice. He made another sound of appreciation as he started into the bread, but this time he controlled himself well enough that it was very faint. Next was the jerky and from there he bounced between all three quickly, seeming ravenous. While he was focused on the tastes and textures of food again, I subtly slipped a bit of my own breakfast into his pile. He was enjoying it a lot more than I was and he was probably a lot hungrier, I figured.

It was only when he started slowing down that I stopped adding to his pile and as he nibbled on the last bits he looked around us: at the trees and field and up at the sky, and I was content to watch him do it. He looked good and I don't mean attractive (though he was), I meant he looked good: healthy and happy. No longer shut up in that snowy prison, he was out in the sunshine and warmth and rolling breeze. He had food in his stomach for the first time in goddesses knew how long, and he wasn't alone. He looked good and it was hard to keep from staring.

I was just about to look away (I swear) when he caught me. I looked away guiltily and coughed. "You, ah, look a lot better to be out of that place," I explained awkwardly and thankfully stopped myself before I could say something foolish.

I looked back up to see that Sheik was staring at his wrapped hands and I worried that I'd said something wrong. "I told you... I told you that I couldn't leave. That was my station, ...my place," he pointed out in a soft voice.

'_Ah,'_ I thought, '_so that's it.'_ "I know you did, so I was really careful about how I went about it. I talked with Zelda and explained that I had your wrap and that I had a way to get into the Fire Temple but I would need to break the enchantment on your mask. She didn't want to loose it, loose you, especially since you were so much of a help to her during the time with Ganondorf, but she understood that it was the only way so she agreed. So, there's nothing wrong. You've been a huge help to the royal family over the years and now you're going to help me get into the Fire Temple and save Hyrule. In short, you're not shirking your duties in any way," I explained.

He seemed to be fighting the urge to smile at that news and instead he dipped his head to me. "Thank you, very much Hero."

I had to laugh at that title again. "I'm gonna have to fight tooth and nail to get you to call me 'Link' aren't I?"

His red eyes smiled over his mask as he replied, "Probably."

I laughed again, this time fuller and shook my head. "Stubborn. See if I resurrect a monster and turn myself into a demon to save you again," I said with a mock irritation.

"Good," he replied. "I didn't like that demon much. I'd rather not have to deal with him again."

"On that, I completely agree. He's nothing but trouble but unfortunately he's damn effective. I don't think I could have beaten Majora's Mask either time without him."

"...I don't know about that," Sheik said as he regarded me carefully. "You bested Ganondorf didn't you? I think you're selling yourself short, Hero. I think had you not had the mask you could have defeated him just the same. Though it might have been harder, I don't think he would have won."

"You sure about that?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at him and he looked away quickly. As he did I thought I might had caught a faint blush, but I wasn't sure.

"Yes."

---

After our breakfast I climbed up onto Epona and (after a lengthy back and forth about whether or not he should/could/and would) Sheik climbed up behind me. Epona was a sturdy horse and didn't have an issue with carrying us both, though the going was a little slower than it had been before. Now that I knew the area a little better, we didn't have to take the treacherous path down the cliff, but rather went north a bit to where the cliff was more of a steep grade. Here the terrain was more forest than swamp and it was almost a straight shot through the dense undergrowth to Clock Town.

As we went, I told Sheik stories about Termina and the things I had done here when I was young. I told him about the carnival of Clock Town, the masks I'd found here (even passing him back the Deku mask that I still had to show him), the Zora and Mikau, the Gorons at Snowhead, the Deku palace and the princess that I'd had to rescue, the Ikana waste and the nightmare that it was.

"Where was I, before?" Sheik asked and I turned a little to look at him in confusion.

"What?"

"Before. Someone was wearing me but it wasn't you though you were there. You were telling my wearer to give me back to you. You were very angry."

"Oh..." I said and nodded with understanding. "Wow, that seems like a long time ago. That was the princess of the Dekus that I was telling you about. She took you from my belongings when they captured me in the swamps. I had thought the guards had lost you when she put you on and started taunting me," I explained with a groan. I knew the girl had only been upset by my disappearance and then reappearance, but the memory of her standing there in Sheik's skin still ticked me off.

"Ah," he replied with smiling eyes. "That's why you were so furious. What was she trying to get you to put on?" he asked, the concealed laughter evident in his voice.

"The mask!" I claimed (honestly) not liking the implication he was making. "The Deku mask."

"Oh... I see." This time Sheik either couldn't or didn't want to hide his amusement about that.

I groaned at the further innuendo he was making. "She just wanted to see me wearing it so she could be sure it had been me that had rescued her at Woodfall temple. I had vanished so suddenly back then they'd assumed me dead and that the mask (which they had found) was of me and had been a gift from my ghost to someone.

"Oh. I see. Yes, I suppose that would be distressing on top of discovering that you're a Hylian."

Before I could reply, Epona made a little jump down a small stepp of earth. Suddenly I had Sheik's arms wrapped around me tightly.

It was funny how quickly my mind could asses things, taking note of the heat of his body suddenly against me as well as the scent of him that came up over my shoulder, the exact position of his fingers over my chest and his arms around my shoulders. In an instant it was gone (with an embarrassed apology from him) but that didn't stop my brain from replaying the incident for the rest of the day.

With the added weight of Sheik, Epona was slowed enough that it was dark by the time we were mostly across the wide fields around Clock Town. Given the situation I wanted to press on and get to the cave that led to Hyrule, but with the path to it being so obscured in mist, I knew the likelihood that we would find it was slim at best. More than likely, we would spend all night stumbling through the mist and bruising our shins.

Staying in Termina for the night was the only option and since we'd eaten all the supplies, I decided to take the time to ride an hour west to Clock Town. Though the stars above were bright, they were dimmed considerably by the lights of the small city as we headed in. Once inside Clock Town, I pointed out things to him: the shops, the clock tower, the observatory. Anju and Kafei's shop appeared to our side and I steered Epona into the stable.

"This is the place with the potato soup I told you about," I explained as we dismounted.

Sheik chuckled as he helped me dress down Epona. "Well, I don't know if I'd know bad from good at this point, but another meal sounds wonderful."

I nodded, more than a little hungry myself. "Anju will be happy to see us. I told her I wouldn't be able to see her until after I'd solved the problem with Hyrule."

He nodded as I gave Epona some oats. "Are you sure that everything will be all right while we stay here the night?" he asked as he followed me into the inn. I could tell from the tone of his voice that he didn't want to question me but at the same time his fervent need to do his duty was tugging at him.

"No, not really," I answered honestly. "But I know the chances that we'll find the way into Hyrule is slim to none and, even if we did, we'd still need to sleep and eat." I waved to Anju as she spotted me and headed over to a free table with Sheik in tow. "There's no point in rushing in unprepared for whatever it is the witch has done. Tomorrow we'll swing by the shop, replenish our supplies and then head to the Fire Temple."

Once we had started towards Clock Town I realized what a better idea this was anyway. I had taken more than a week and a half in Termina so I couldn't trust that there would be a shop still open where I could get things like arrows and potions.

"Well, look who's back," Anju said cheerfully and as she reached the table she smiled warmly at Sheik. "Is this who you came to rescue?"

I tried not to blush as I nodded. Sheik's eyes went a little wide at that description (instead of saying that I had come to get him to save Hyrule) His eyes shifted away from mine in a way that made a little voice of hope in the back of my mind jump up and cheer. "Anju, this is Sheik. Sheik, this is Anju. I told him you make the best potato soup ever." She giggled embarrassedly at my words.

"He lies, I promise, but I do my best. I'll bring you two a couple big bowls."

"I'm sure it'll be wonderful. Thank you," he said with an incline of his head as she went to get our food. "So... We're heading to the Fire Temple tomorrow or are we to report to the Princess first?"

I blinked. _"Reporting"_ wasn't something I really did. It never seemed really important given that I was busy saving things. Saving things took presence over dropping by to say, _"I'm off to risk certain death. Catch you later."_

"Um, nah I'm sure she'd rather we just went in and fixed the problem. We've lost a lot of time because of that damn Enchanter, so taking any more to just tell her we were off to the temple would be a waste."

He nodded and looked up as Anju came over with our bowls. "You two can have the third room tonight. It's got two beds," she explained and I thanked her before she rushed off to take care of the dinner rush.

Sheik dug into the soup and rolls quickly enough though I couldn't miss the way he kept looking around with a furrowed brow.

"Something wrong?" I asked after swallowing a bite.

He started and then looked back down to his bowl guiltily. "No, not at all. It's very good, Hero."

I couldn't be sure if he was using that title to throw me off or it was just an innocent habit (though I suspected the former). Either way, I wasn't biting. "I didn't mean about the soup. You weren't looking too happy just then."

He refused to look up from his bowl and stayed silent long enough that I drew a breath to press the issue further, but he answered finally. "It's just very strange. I'm not used to all of this: sitting and eating, speaking with people. I've watched as people did it through me, but... I feel very out of place. I'm sorry."

"Don't be," I replied with a shake of my head. "You've got every reason to be uncomfortable. I don't know what I'd be like if I had been shut up like you've been. I think you're doing great, all things considered."

"I couldn't manage to hunt for breakfast," he disagreed. "It was part of my most basic training to gather supplies on long journeys."

"And how long has it been since you did it last?" I asked, not giving on this point. "You've been stuck either watching what others did or shut up in that tent. You're expecting too much of yourself."

He sighed and looked up at me with eyes that showed a small, wry smile. "I keep expecting to wake up, actually. I spent nearly the whole time you were asleep just walking around, touching things, and pinching myself. ...I never thought I'd get out of there," he added softly as his eyes fell again.

I couldn't help myself from reaching up and patting his arm. "You're out now, and I promise you aren't going to ever see that tent again. So, stop beating yourself up because it's taking a little bit to adjust."

The smile I got at that was much more genuine and he nodded. "I will, Hero. Thank you, ...for everything."

I tried to keep the heat from my face as I waved off his thanks. "Don't mention it, and don't call me that."

"Yes, Hero."

---

After gorging ourselves on soup and fresh rolls, we decided to call it a night and headed up to the room. "This is it," I said as I pushed open the third door. "Do you know how to ride?"

"What?" he asked as he followed me in.

"I was thinking that it would be faster if we found you a horse of your own, but I wasn't sure if you could ride. I feel like I've been on a horse nonstop since I was ten, but I know I'm far from the norm."

As I dropped my bag beside the far bed I looked back to see him sitting down on the other. "I did learn to ride, though my duties kept me within the castle most of the time and when the prince (my charge at the time) left the palace I was one of the Sheikah that would go on foot, keeping to the edges to watch for attackers. Sometimes I would ride on the back of the carriage, but the horses were spared for those higher than I."

I nodded and tossed off my hat to ruffle my hair loose. "Alright, then. Epona won't have any trouble with us both; she'll just be a little slower. It probably wouldn't make a big difference in the end anyway, because Epona is faster than most horses. She'd have to slow down so that another horse could keep up if you were on your own horse."

He nodded and began to turn down his bed. I'd been too concerned with the upcoming battle in the Fire Temple and just trying to act normal around Sheik, that the incident with the Fierce God had been completely forgotten until Sheik pulled off his own head wrap and then pulled his tunic over his head. _"I wonder if you taste as good as he thinks you will..."_

I wanted to sleep in the stable with Epona at the blurry memory, though it was good that he hadn't brought that up since then... It was good wasn't it? I wasn't sure. Of course I didn't want to be questioned about it... but then again that he hadn't brought it up made it look like he was hoping that it was just the Fierce Diety being a pain. That there had been no sideways glances or awkward periods of closeness was rather brutal on my small hopes.

Though I couldn't help but follow the lines of his back for a moment, most of the wind was taken from my sails. I looked back to my own bed and the wall behind it as I yanked off my own shirt and kicked off my boots and socks. I almost stopped myself but as Sheik didn't care, I kicked off my pants to sleep in just my shorts.

When I turned around Sheik was ducked down to pull off his boots and I crawled under the covers (unsure I could keep myself from staring when he went further) and rolled over. "Good night, Sheik."

"Good night, Hero," he answered and after a minute or so I heard his blankets rustle and the lamp was snuffed out.

---

I fell into an uneasy sleep eventually but was woken up suddenly by a gasp and a thump. In a flash I was up with my hand on my blade. "Sheik? Is that you?"

"Yes, Hero. I'm sorry," replied his soft voice.

"Are you alright?"

"Yes. I... I just forgot where I was. You can go back to sleep, Hero." I thought I caught a slight tremor in his voice beneath the embarrassment.

"It's 'Link'," I corrected and the barely auditable chuckle it earned me made me smile.

"Yes, Hero."

"Stubborn..." I sighed in mock/not-so-mock exasperation. "You alright to sleep?"

"Fine. Thank you," he answered but I doubted he'd admit it if he wasn't.

I laid back down and peered over to the general outline of him that I could make out. "I remember what it was like when I was sent out of the Kokiri village the first time. The Deku Tree sent me to see Zelda but I didn't make it across the field before the sun set and I ended up sleeping on a little ledge above the grates to the waterway. It was the only way to avoid the things that roamed the field.

"I didn't even have Epona then."

I heard him shift in his blankets and by the rough shape I could make out, it looked like he'd rolled over to face me. "Must have been quite a shock for a small child."

"Just a little. I'd never set foot outside the woods before that day. We were actually told that we would die if we left them."

"Why?" he asked and though he tried to hide it I caught the shock in his voice.

"I think to keep the Kokiri safe from the outside world. They're not much equipped to handle things like war and time doesn't really register for them."

"How so?" he asked and I explained about how they hadn't recognized me when I'd come back after pulling out the sword. From there I ended up talking about what it had been like to step out into the destroyed market place for the first time and from there I ended up talking about the Kakariko well and all the redeads down there. "Still, not as bad as the Ikana valley, thankfully," I said with a yawn and when I got no answer I raised my head up a little. "Sheik?" I asked softly. Again I got no answer and I smiled through my next yawn.

I couldn't remember the last time I'd talked so much, but apparently my rambling had worked well to help him to sleep. Content that I'd been able to do that much, I rolled back over and slid back into sleep. Even if it wouldn't be anything more than this, this was still pretty good, I thought.

To be continued.


	9. Chapter 8

Author's Notes: Much great and bountiful thanks to my reviewers, Venks, Albel Nox, Cap'n BlackRose, Eisenkrähe, and Kairan Akiyama. 

Chapter 8

We left the tunnel from Termina and I steered Epona through the dense mist towards the sunshine of Hyrule, ...or what should have been sunshine. The usually blue skies were black as pitch and I didn't have to look far for the reason for this. To the north sat Death Mountain, a blazing torch in the sky. Burning balls of fire were being thrown high into the air as rivers of glowing lava ran down from it's top. Above the mountain was a sea of black that had spread across all of Hyrule by the looks of it. In less than two weeks, the witch had corrupted Death Mountain worse than Ganondorf had in ten years.

"By the Three..." I heard Sheik whisper behind me and I glanced back to see the apprehension in his crimson eyes.

"Well," I started. "That's gotten a bit worse since I left," I said flippantly and earned myself an interesting look from Sheik. With a chuckle, I spurred Epona on. "We'd best get started on that 'long road' you mentioned before."

As Epona's hooves pounded against the grassy earth, Sheik replied with an amused tone, "Are you always so cheerful to head into these things?"

"Aw, it's just a little smoke... and fire... and lava. Lava moves slow anyway, so you can jump over it. No worries," I said with a laugh. "You're just being too cautious."

"Oh, am I? Silly me for thinking that an erupting volcano was dangerous."

I made a dismissive gesture. "Lava and fire haven't killed me yet. At this point I figure I'll die choking on a poorly chewed bit of bread."

I heard Sheik groan behind me and rest his forehead against my shoulder. "I would say that you should take things more seriously but apparently this attitude has served you well all this time."

"That it has," I agreed and raised my eyes back to Death Mountain. "Besides... worrying never did anyone any good. If I got worked up every time I charged into certain death I would be long dead of stress alone. Better to just head in deal with what comes when it comes, I think," I explained, a bit more seriously.

Sheik was quiet for a moment. "Yes, I can see that," he said thoughtfully before pointing just to the east of the mountain. "There's a path to the east of the mountain that we can reach if we keep to the side of Kakariko. Or rather, there was one there," he added. "If it's gone, we can still find our way around to the far side of the mountain."

I nodded and kept Epona at a steady pace towards where he'd pointed. We'd have to walk her once we reached Sheik's path, but we'd be off the fields before nightfall. Now was the time to press.

Still even with our rush, we stopped a bit after noon to take a late lunch/early supper. "The air smells foul," Sheik said as we ate some of the bread that Anju had sent with us. "It stinks of sulfur."

"Wait till we're into the temple. I stunk of it for over a week after the first time. Thankfully I had to change clothes before going in so that helped the smell once I was out," I said and then stopped with the dried meat halfway to my mouth as I realized that I had totally forgotten an important detail in my great plan. "Damn it..."

"What?"

"You don't have a tunic made from the Goron's fabric. You can't go into the temple." Judging by his expression he hadn't considered that either and now I had a whole new problem to figure out. With the Goron city destroyed, I didn't think there was any way to get him the protection he'd need... which meant I'd be going in alone.

All and all, I was perfectly accustomed to going it on my own, but I'd gotten rather attached to the idea of not having to this time. I'd be fine on my own, I quickly chided to myself, but it had been a nice thought. "Eh, probably better that way," I replied to myself before Sheik could. "I'm used to doing things on my own so better to stick with what works for this, huh?" I tore off a hunk of the meat with my teeth and repeated that to myself mentally to be sure I believed it.

"Still," he spoke up a bit later. "I'll be able to help till you head into the temple, though I'm not sure what need you'll have of me between now and then."

"...Company is a nice change," I finally replied with my head lowered to hide my reaction to his choice of words. Just as I was settling into not thinking in that direction he had to pull me back into it.

I knew I was just being too sensitive to it, but knowing it didn't do any good. I found myself jumping at the slightest innuendo and I was beginning to worry about my sanity should I stay around Sheik much longer. Still... my memories would jump back to replay the way his hands had lingered on me after waking from Majora... the way he had leaned into me when I helped him sit up after his injuries back in the tent... the way stayed so still when I almost kissed him the first time I'd arrived at the snow plain in the mask.

The question was had he been too shocked by what I had almost done to act, or had he been hoping I would?

It was a nice thought, but then I went back to the way he'd completely ignored what the Fierce God had said. I was the Hero and so to point out something like that would probably be a no-no in his world of strict hierarchy. Even if I did say anything to him he might reciprocate just because I was the Hero, and that was the worst possible thing I could imagine.

Though I'm not sure how long I mulled over those thoughts, or the expression that had claimed my face, but the next time I looked up Sheik was watching me with worried eyes. When he saw I had caught him watching he quickly lowered his eyes. "I'm sorry, Hero."

I shook my head. "Nah, it's okay. I didn't mean to get lost on you. I'm not used to having some one else around." This was something we'd both have to adjust to, I supposed.

He nodded and packed away the uneaten food. "I'm sure you have a lot on your mind."

I nodded, that being truer than he knew and we remounted to continue on our course to the mountain.

---

We had passed the Lon Lon ranch a few hours ago when I saw the stairs of Kakariko across the river. I began to turn Epona towards the bridge when I saw something to my right that demanded my attention at the moment.

"What?" Sheik asked as I brought Epona to a stop at the edge of the river... or rather the riverbed. The once swiftly flowing Zora River was gone to leave only a parched riverbed.

I dismounted and stepped over to the steep bank of the river as I heard Sheik nimbly jump down after me. "Perhaps the eruptions affected the water flow... or the Zora are protecting it for some reason," he reasoned, but I shook my head and pointed to what really had my attention.

There, further to our right, was the entrance to the Zora's realm, entirely caved in. I walked down the bank for a little bit as I examined the crude though effective blocking of the Zora's city. As brutal and effective as sealing the Goron city in lava. "I don't think it's a big jump to assume that the witch has something to do with that," I commented and Sheik stepped up beside me.

"What should we do? The fire temple is the source of the eruptions and if they go on much longer Kakariko and even the palace could be in danger," Sheik pointed out. Though he wouldn't tell me what to do outright, I could tell he didn't like the idea of inspecting the Zora before heading into the temple. As a Sheikah, his first concerns were the royal family, but mine was for people, all of them.

"They have time to evacuate," I said without a moment of hesitation and turned to remount Epona.

"But it's sealed, Hero," Sheik protested but I noticed he followed and jumped up behind me.

"I know I back way in. Well," I paused, considering. "I know of two... but lets use the one in the Lost Woods. I don't want to pop up in the middle of the city without knowing what's going on."

That said, I turned Epona towards the woods and started her on.

"The Lost woods?" he asked, and though he tried to hide it, I caught the apprehension in his voice.

"Don't worry. I know the way," I reassured him and then reached down to pat Epona. "Sorry girl, just a bit further, then you can rest." I knew she was exhausted and frothy, but this was too important. As ever, it was as if she could feel my hurry and never even tried to slow.

Like a shot, we barreled down the hill towards the Kokiri forest and instead of leaving her out in the fields, I charged her into the tight tunnel that led into village. "Duck!" I shouted back to Sheik and I scrunched down as far as I could in order to stay mounted through the first tunnel. Once clear, Epona tore across the old rope bridge and I felt Sheik's hands clench on my shoulders at the sensation of the foot bridge bucking under the galloping horse, but we were only on it a second as a few strides sent us through yet another tunnel.

Though the darkness, the forest light suddenly burst at us as we entered the Kokiri village. As before, I had the many children, those I had grown up with no less, surrounding us in surprise at yet another appearance. "I'm heading into the Woods again," I explained to the nearest child. "I need someone to care for my horse. She's driven herself to near collapse to get me here," I explained as I leapt off her.

Sheik followed after as the know-it-all brothers hurried up. "We'll take her. Don't worry." As they took her reins, I thanked them before waving Sheik to follow me. He was apprehensive but was on my heels as I led him up to the woods entrance. "Stay close to me, understand? Don't wander off."

He nodded rapidly and as I turned to lead him in, he was less than a foot from my back.

---

The Woods were as still as ever, almost as if it was it's own world but I had to only look up to remember the task at hand. The sky was pitch black above us and Sheik kept bumping into me as we wove though the trees and tunnels. He was practically buzzing with anxiety to be in there and after the fifth time he ran into my back I decided to ignore how it would look and reached back to grab his hand. "Here. This way can't get separated now and you don't have to keep stepping on my heels."

He lowered his eyes guiltily but didn't even try to pull his hand back from me. To the contrary, after a few steps he was gripping mine tightly and every couple more seemed to bring him a few inches closer to me. By the time I heard a laughing voice call out to me, Sheik was right against my side. "Well, isn't this a cute little sight?" someone asked with a chuckle and when I turned I found the skull kid leaning on a tree. At seeing him, I felt Sheik's hand tighten on mine while his other moved for his dagger. "Having a lovers' stroll through the Woods are we?"

"Funny," I replied flatly and turned to face him. "We're just passing through, actually. I wouldn't want to loose track of him in here."

"Too true," he replied with a laugh. "You wouldn't want him to end up like me!" he cried out nastily as he yanked off his skull mask to show his own natural skull face.

Sheik gasped and took a few steps back from him, but I kept my grip on Sheik's hand and kept him close. The last thing I needed was to loose him in these woods. "Exactly. I'd rather he kept his skin. What are you doing back in Hyrule?" I asked, wanting to get the subject off of Sheik.

He went quiet and I had a feeling he was glaring at me as he put his mask back on. "I thought that was you... What do you care where I go?"

I shrugged. "I don't much, but Hyrule isn't very safe right now. Anyone that knows how to get to Termina or anywhere else should go there for the time being. Are Tatl and Tael alright?"

"They're fine," he answered quickly and with a wave they appeared from behind him.

"Hi!" they chorused to me.

"Hello," I replied and when I saw the confused look on Sheik's face I leaned closer to him and said, "He's the one that had Majora's mask the first time I ran into it."

"He knows about it too?!" The skull kid shouted, clearly outraged that anyone else knew about the incident.

"Hey, hey..." I started, waving him to clam down. "He recently saw the mask so I figured it would be fair to explain. That's all. It's not like you knew what the mask would do, after all."

He shook his head and crossed his arms. "'The first time,' eh? Termina isn't safe either. I'll stay here, thank you."

Ah, I thought, so that was why he was staying in the woods again. "Actually Termina is perfectly safe now. Majora's mask was destroyed a couple days ago. A crazy old man thought he could control it and I finally got to destroy it. You don't have to stay here to avoid the mask."

He looked unconvinced and he whispered to the fairies he had. "How do I know you're telling the truth? You could just be saying that to get rid of me." Tael agreed with him with a "humph" though I could see that Tatl was trying to speak for me.

With a sigh, I rooted through my pack to find the broken pieces of Majora's mask. "Here, see?" I asked as I held them up.

The sight of them caused the skull kid to scream and jump back to hide behind the tree.

"It's harmless," I called out to him. "It's broken and dead. I'll dispose of it completely when I'm done fixing things here, but Termina is safe."

Slowly he inched out from behind the tree and came right up to me (much to Sheik's displeasure) to look at the mask. "It's the one, all right. You're sure it's dead?"

I nodded. "Pretty sure. Once I'm done here I'll make absolutely certain, but even if its not, no one can use it so long as I've got it here in my bag. Go back to Termina where it's safe. I don't know how it'll take me to put things right here," I insisted and he considered my face a long moment before he nodded.

"Alright. Alright, we'll go. If the mask is here, even broken, I'd rather leave anyway. Good luck kid," he said as he started off into the surrounding woods. "Don't get dead."

"Thanks!" I called after him as he vanished form sight.

"He was the one that wore it before?" Sheik asked and I nodded. As we continued through the woods, I explained to him how the skull kid had stolen it and foolishly put it on. I hadn't been finished with my tale for very long before we came upon the deep pool I'd been looking for.

"Can you swim?" I asked with a grin and led him up to the edge.

"Um... yes. Why?" he asked and I pointed down into the very deep pool to the opening below.

"Cus we're going through there. It'll dump us right outside the door to the Zora's domain. It's not a bad swim, really."

He nodded and (after shyly releasing my hand) he reached up to tighten the wrap around his face. "I'll be fine."

I checked my own pouches before diving into pool and down towards the opening. Once I reached it, I paused to look back up. The shimmering surface was startling to settle after my dive when it was tossed about again as Sheik jumped in. Seeing him heading down towards me, I turned and pushed myself through the opening and into the darkness of the magical tunnel.

A moment later the darkness broke to show daylight above. I kicked through the cool water till I broke the surface and took a long deep breath of air. I wiped the water out of my eyes and looked around to see if there was something ready to take my head off. Much to my relief there wasn't. As I pulled myself up out of the water Sheik broke the surface behind me.

"You alright?" I asked as I shook out a boot.

"Yes." He came over to the edge and drew himself out as well and I turned from him to survey what was left of the Zora River.

Where rushing waters had once eclipsed all other sounds, it was dead silent. The black sky above made it seem like twilight between the high cliffs and the green grass was already starting to brown. The waterbeds were bone dry and the waterfall was completely shut down, leaving the doorway into the Zora's city open and unprotected. "Well at least we won't have to ride back to Lake Hylia to try the other doorway," I said, trying to see some sort of bright side to this, but the fates obviously had something against my light mood as right then the black sky opened up to dump a downpour on us.

I groaned at this and turned my mirthless smile to Sheik.

"What's the phrase?" he asked me, looking just as happy. "When it rains it pours?"

I laughed but then wiped at my face at the odd stinging feeling I suddenly felt. To my confusion, I found only rain on my face. I looked up at the sky and instantly regretted it as the moment that the water struck my eyes they burned fiercely. "Damn it!" I hissed, wiping my face on my tunic but as it was quickly getting drenched that did little good.

"The rain is burning!" Sheik commented and I looked over to see him tucking his semi bare hands under his arms.

"Come on!" I shouted over the curtains of scorching rain and leapt over the gap to reach the entrance to the Zora's city. Sheik wasted no time in following me. "What the hell?!" I complained as I pulled my tunic off before it soaked through to my undershirt.

"The volcano," Sheik said as he tossed off his over tunic as well as the wrap that covered his hair. "It must have poisoned the air and now all that black smoke is coming down in the rain."

I nodded, unable to argue with that logic. The air in the fire temple had been arid and strange so it wasn't that had to believe that those gases in high quality could befoul the air to this point. "That's probably why she needed the weathervane and why she caused the volcano to light up like that. Damn it," I swore again, as I realized that the sleeves of my undershirt was wet as well but to throw away both my shirts would leave me no protection when we left. "We need water to rinse this stuff off."

"The river is dry," Sheik said, stepping to the end of the entrance to look at the falling rain and riverbed. "Or rather it was."

I shook my head. "Take off anything that has the acid on it," I said, ripping off my undershirt. "There's still water in the tunnel to the forest and its shielded from the rain. I'll rush out, dunk everything a few times and get back here."

"You'll be completely unprotected from the rain," he protested but I was already dropping all my items onto the entrance floor.

"I'll be fast and I'll dive straight into the water. Being soaked will dilute the rain some. I'll even fill a couple bottles with the water to rinse in when I get back." The thighs of my pants were also wet so I pulled them off to stand only in my shorts. Thankfully the sensation of burning acid on my face was distracting enough not to worry about being mostly naked in front of him. "Gimme everything that's wet, Sheik," I repeated insistently. "And I do mean everything, even your mask." When he started to protest I talked over him. "Oh face the wall if it's that important, but if you keep wearing it it'll burn your face, you idiot, now get rid of it!"

To disobey a direct order from the Hero was obviously too much and he quickly turned to face the wall as he pulled off his mask, shirt and pants as well. "That's everything," he said once he had dropped the last of it in a pile and I took a faction of a second to take in the sight of his long back and tanned legs before I scooped them up and, with my own clothes and bottles in hand as well, leapt out of the cover.

The rain caused a strange crawling feeling on my skin as I darted out towards the pool. When I reached it I jumped in and was relieved as the tingling was gone. I put the clothes up on the ledge as I took a moment to rinse off my face and eyes really well. While it was just irritating on my skin, my eyes were another matter. I pulled in the clothes a piece at a time, trying to be as thorough as possible. Again, the rain wasn't burning off our skin, but still it seemed more than likely that if we left the clothes on, our skin would quickly end up raw and covered in sores. That was no way to go into combat.

Once everything was cleaned, I filled two bottles with water and pulled myself up out of the pool. Bundling all our clothes up into a tight ball, I used myself to shield them as I ran through the rain to reach the entrance to the Zora's city. "All clean," I announced as I tossed the wet clothes onto the floor.

I pulled the stopper out of one of the bottles and dumped it over my back to get the new bit of rain off of me. Before I could grab the other I felt it be dumped over my head. I looked up to see Sheik with the now empty bottle in his hand, while his other hand was covering the lower part of his face.

It all of a sudden seemed strangely warm as I was acutely aware of how close he was... and how little he was wearing... and boy did his skin look smooth... Yeah it was definitely warm in there and his crimson eyes were almost black in the dim light. The way they focused on me made my insides twist and I was lost for a moment in the familiar emotions I found there. Determination, devotion, and loneliness, but I was pleased to see the loneliness was sliding back while other things were inching forward. Was there a flicker of hope there?

Instantly I was extremely aware that I was staring, and I had no idea how long I'd been staring. I quickly yanked my eyes away from him. "Thanks. We'll be a little damp for a bit but at least that water won't burn us any," I said quickly and my voice was tighter than I would have liked.

"A good thing, I think," he answered and I heard him rooting through the clothes as I put the stoppers back into the bottles before going for my own clothes.

Once we were both dressed and our weapons strapped back on, I saw Sheik looking out at the rain once more. "The river, she cut it off so that land would be dry when the rain fell. There's nothing to dilute it with now."

That hadn't occurred to me and I looked back out as well. Through the curtains of water I could see the poisoned water gathering into the river bed to run down into the rest of Hyrule. It wouldn't happen in the next hour, and maybe not in the next day, but soon the rain would fill that river back to the level it had been and Hyrule would be full of the acidic water with no pure water to rinse it away. The miserable old woman had made her plans well.

With a grim look, I waved Sheik to follow me into the Zora's city. I had to know what had been done to them and how to get the clean water flowing once more. Sadly, neither of us were prepared for what we were going to find.

To be continued.


	10. Chapter 9

Author's Notes: Thank you muchly to all my reviewers: FlamingDoritos, noperfect917, Liael, Yume Keki, Eisenkrähe, and Venks. Also a special thanks to Albel Nox who says she's making fan art from this fic. YAY! I say "she says" cus not only does strip out web links in the reviews, but it even seems to cut them out of the private messages. Ugh. Makes me remember why I perfer skyehawke.

I looked at your deviant art account, Albel (though your link to it in you profile is spelled wrong) and your stuff is cool!. My deviant art is askaniblue. Send the link to your picture to my email or post it up on deviant art. I'll keep an eye out for it. 

Chapter 9

The mass panic of the Goron city I could deal with. It was a disaster but a disaster still in the making. It could be controlled, helped, avoided. There were things that needed to be done and people to save... but here? My eyes scanned over the once familiar city and only Sheik's soft gasp broke the ringing silence.

Before us, down the main walk, was a pair of Zora lying dead. By their wounds it looked as if they had been cut down by enemies wielding swords and their blood left a dried pool around them. Sadly, by what we could see from the entrance, they were far from the only ones. To our right the large main pool that connected to many of their homes was drained of its water and across its floor was a dozen or so other bodies in the same state. I could see the entrance of the tunnel to Lake Hylia from where we stood and though there was a small cluster of dead around it, I hoped that some had made it out before they had been killed.

I don't know how long I stood there, frozen by the sight before us, but eventually Sheik's soft voice broke the horrible silence. "Hero...?"

At that I let out a short mirthless laugh that almost came out as a sob. "Not today, I wasn't... not here."

"Hero..." Sheik began again, the admonishment clear in his voice but I shook my head to silence him. I had failed the Zora quite thoroughly and at that moment I wanted no words of comfort. Without another word, I started forward.

With our weapons drawn, we made our way through the destroyed city but for the longest time all we found were more bodies and dry waterways . We'd been creeping through the city for more than an hour when I heard a ratchety "wark" from ahead of us. A second later, three dinalfos came rushing around the corner with their swords drawn.

Meaner, stronger cousins to the lizalfos, they came down on us fast and I charged forward from Sheik to meet them recklessly. One met me head on and made a fast swipe at me with one of its swords, but I was able to block it away. The clang of his sword against my shield was deafening in the silence of the abandoned city and now the sound of metal against metal drowned out even the excited cries of his fellows.

This was what I was used to: an enemy before me with weapons drawn. The group of dinalfos was actually a relief for me. I wasn't sure how much longer I could have taken searching through the city only to find more corpses of Zoras. Being faced with the aftermath of a battle I hadn't been there for and bodies I should have saved was crushing but this? This was something I could control and act upon.

I wasn't sure, being too focused on the fight's patterns of lunges, parries, and blocks, but as the fight raged on I was fairly certain that other dinalfos had joined into the fracas. It was all a blur of steel and scales and blood; little beyond the furious fight mattered. One caught me across the back but all it earned him was a separation of his head from his shoulders as I spun around with my sword. Out of the corner of my eye I saw one move to lunge for me but before I could jump around to block him, his head snapped back. The dinalfos fell backwards limply with a dagger sticking out of its throat. For a moment I sparred a glance back to my left and saw Sheik drawing another dagger to fend off the attacks of a pair of his own dinalfos.

That part was foreign to me entirely. Never had I fought with someone else at my side. My whole life, since childhood I had been on my own in battle with no one to concern myself with but my adversaries, but now Sheik was fighting along side. Now that I had looked around, I saw that the noise of our battle had likely drawn every dinalfos in the city to us. This was a massive fight, us two against more than two dozen of the creatures and I was painfully aware that I most likely wouldn't have stood a chance on my own.

Seeing the situation we were in also made it very clear that we were losing ground. Certainly I had dropped several on my own and Sheik probably as well, but there were more moving in to take the fallen's places, while we were slowly becoming more tired and injured. I felt one of their blades cut into my left arm a moment before I heard Sheik cry out in pain. This wasn't working and, with my shield drawn up over my face, I barreled through the ones surrounding me. I had to get as far from Sheik as possible.

It took some fighting, as well as some pushing, but when I was finally sure that I was far enough from him, I dropped my sword and slammed my fist downwards with a shout. In a flash, a ball of fire spread out from my fist and through me to slam into the dinalfos around me. They cried out in shock and pain but they weren't able to get away before the flames burned them to the ground. The ones behind them didn't do much better and when I snatched my sword back up and looked around myself, I found that I had gotten the majority of them with that spell. Now only six remained and they were all on Sheik.

I tightened my grip on my sword and charged one of them. With a leap, my blade cut through his shoulder and down through his chest. The one next to him turned to try and face me but I slammed my shield into his face while I yanked my sword free of the body of his compatriot. Before he could regain himself, I plunged my sword through his chest and, with a wet crunch; I twisted my sword free of his ribs as I drew it back. While he fell, I had a view of Sheik slitting another one's scaly throat before swinging backwards to catch another in the skull. One of the two remaining ones jumped at me but I blocked his wild attack easily and brought him down with my countering swing. With that one dead, I turned to fight the last but found Sheik had beaten me to it and was drawing back one of his daggers as the dinalfos dropped.

"Well..." I said as I panted to get my breath back. "That was a work out."

He nodded and once he had caught his breath a bit more he pointed to the charred bodies of the dozen or so I had killed with the spell. "You can summon the goddess's fire?"

I nodded and realized that I had never had to use that spell or any other in front of Zelda when she'd been wearing Sheik. I'd used spelled arrows against Ganondorf but really I suddenly wasn't sure she even knew now that I had gained spells from the Three. "I picked it up along with the others when I was fighting Ganondorf, way back when. I can also use magics to spell arrows."

"A tapestry of you showed you firing a brilliantly glowing arrow. Was that what it was showing?" he asked and I drew my bow.

I focused for a second and the arrowhead was suddenly surrounded by a shining golden light. "This?" I asked and he nodded. Iwas aware of the awestruck look in his eyes and I was suddenly embarrassed to have shown him in such a dramatic way. I started to pull down the bow, but he stopped me.

"Did you say you could do more than one?" he asked and I obliged by raising it up again. With a moment concentration, I changed it to flames and then to ice.

"Those are all I can make," I said as I cut off the spell and put my bow away.

"I've seen the ice, a few times, actually," he said as he looked around for any daggers he had thrown. "The Gerudo had it. They used to use it quite a lot to raid royal caravans or stun guards."

"Yeah, I can see that. I got it from them actually."

"From them?" he asked disbelieving as he wiped off his last dagger.

I nodded as I looked in my pouches for a potion or something to try and patch us up. "Yeah. I had to go through a training course a few dozen times but once I had beaten it I got the spell to use on the arrows."

"Why? I mean, why would they give it to you? You were at war with them," he asked, clearly confused by this and I shook my head at his misunderstanding.

"No, I was at war with Ganondorf, whom they had the misfortune to share blood with," I explained and though he started to correct me that he was their king, I kept going. "They couldn't stand him and they wanted nothing to do with him. When they realized what his goals were they started working against him. They're very nice people actually. Thieves, but honorable ones, if that makes sense."

"It doesn't," he replied, the doubt clear in his voice.

I could only shrug to that. "I'll have to take you to see them then. They're a fun group and damn fine archers."

He shook his head but his eyes showed an amused smile as he did.

My own smile mirrored it, but it slowly fell away as I saw one of the many bodies of the Zoras not too far from where we had battled. It was a small comfort to think that we had probably killed most of the Zoras' murders and it got smaller and smaller the further we continued into the city. "The tunnel that was back at the first pool leads to Lake Hylia and the Water Temple. Once we've checked out the city we'll go through there and see if there are any survivors."

He nodded and we slowly wove our way up through the city till we reached the King's chambers. I was relieved to see that Ruto's father's body wasn't there though his enormous robe was, and I allowed myself a dim hope that he was still alive somewhere. "This way," I said as I lead Sheik up and around to the now dry water way that was hidden behind his throne. There was no clear water to splash through anymore, but instead just dry earth till we reached the end of the cave and the Zora's Spring. Beyond the cave's mouth, the poisoned rain fell perfectly straight at the same soaking rate. Seeing the steady curtain of rain gave me an idea and I told Sheik to wait as I ran back into the throne room. There I got the king's robe and dropped it at Sheik's feet.

"We can cut this up and use it as a cloak to protect us from the rain," I explained but Sheik looked shocked and appalled as I sliced it in half with my sword.

"That's the royal robes of the Zora's king, isn't it?" he asked as he watched my work with wide eyes.

"Yeah...?" I answered, not getting why he was so shocked by this.

"But... but... you can't just cut that up," he pleaded. "It belongs to royalty."

I sighed heavily and tossed him the section I had cut for him to wear. "It's a bit of cloth that will keep us from being burned while we try to find a way to restore the king's spring as well as his city. Really. I don't think he'll mind. And if he does, that's his problem then, isn't it?" I finished cheekily and Sheik just looked dumbstruck at my words, so I sighed again. "Listen, I'm the Hero of Time right?" He nodded. "Then I can do stuff like this and on my order, you are to wear that to keep the rain off of you."

That seemed to finally convince him and, still looking a bit pale to be doing it, he wrapped the cloth around himself well enough to keep any rain out. Thankfully the brilliant red fabric seemed to be made of some scaly hide. I had good hopes that it would provide a good shield against the rain.

As we stepped out and up to where JabuJabu should have been, I heard Sheik make a soft sound of awe. "This is the Zora's fountain? Not even when I was being worn by the royal family did I ever see this..."

I tried to put myself in his shoes and see the fountain as something deeply meaningful and important, but it was hard. I was too jaded by my life and all the impossible and amazing things I'd done and seen. My spells were gifts from the great fairies and thus from the goddesses themselves, I had seen the heart of every temple, and gone into every sacred place in Hyrule. To me this was the place that Ruto had gotten herself eaten by JabuJabu and where I had had to toil through the ice cavern. It was another chore, another stop down my long road, though, for a moment, I kinda could see it from his perspective. Even without the great fish spirit and with the spring all but dry. I could better understand that this was the source of all Hyrule's water and the magic that fed it was a gift from the goddesses. This was a sacred, magical place, and with that thought, I felt a bit uncomfortable. Maybe it was better if I didn't see things as he did, I thought with a wry smile and stepped up onto the platform to look into the spring itself.

"The water's stopped from some reason," I said as I pointed to the deepest part of the nearly empty pool. There was a small bit of water that was only a bit deeper than I stood and at the bottom of it was a hole where the water should have been rushing out to fill the huge fountain and overflow to the Zora's River. Instead, it was only stirred by the drumming rain. Ducking oddly under my makeshift cloak, I pulled out my backpack and retrieved my Zora's tunic. "I'm gonna swim down that. You stay here," I said as I yanked off my green shirt to put the Zora's one on.

"What?"

"I'm going to swim down there and see if the witch has done something to muck up the spring. This shirt is enchanted to let me breath underwater. I'll be right back, don't worry," I promised and left the cloak behind to jog down to the remaining water. The water was a bit over ten feet deep and I leapt in to dive for the opening below.

The tunnel was about seven feet wide and I found it easy enough to move through as I proceeded down through the winding tunnel. Eons of rushing water had polished the stone down to glass smooth walls and had prevented any vegetation from growing so it was much easier than I had thought it would be. The water flowed oddly in and out of my lungs, but thankfully I was far enough in that the contaminated rain hadn't mixed with the water here.

The water sadly hadn't moved in a straight line or even a singular one. As water does, it found the path with the weakest bedrock to burrow through so that not only did I have a path that went every which way, but I also had to contend with many branching dead ends. For a moment I had a clenching fear of becoming lost and trapped here, but I quickly pushed it away. I had the tunic on, so drowning wasn't an option. I'd find my way out eventually.

With a strong kick I propelled myself a little faster though the tunnels as they widened to more of a round hallway. It wasn't far before I came around a corner to find myself face to face with a spear wielding dinalfos or lizalfos, or maybe some other relation of the races entirely. It released a stream of bubbles in a hiss at the sight of me and used its tail to push itself through the water swiftly and charge me with its spear.

With a silent shout I pushed myself back to avoid it and drew my hookshot to shoot it in the head. The mechanism immediately snapped to life and cut through the water to slam into the creature. As it went still in the water, I kept the weapon out. In the water my sword was near useless but as ever my hookshot was still deadly effective. Slower than swinging a blade, but down here it was my best bet.

My guess that the answer to the cut off water could be found down here was correct, I thought with twisted amusement when the next few turns found me face to face with a dozen or so other of the water bound lizalfos.

They came at me fast and I fired my hookshot at one, then another, then another, but it was slow and I had to keep moving to avoid their sharp spears. I felt one spear head bite into my shoulder and I kicked away from that attacker in time to catch him with the hookshot, but then another was ready to stab me through my leg. I cried out mutely and tried to just swing the hookshot at that one's head but another came up behind me to choke me with its spear. I struggled to break free, kicking two in front of me in the process, but in the end, the world dimmed to black nothing.

---

The next thing I knew was a strange weightlessness that immediately made me jump... so I cracked my head on the rock ceiling above me. My "ow!" was silenced by the curious heaviness in my lungs and I realized that I was still underwater. As I blinked past the throbbing in my head, I looked around to see that I was in one of the dead end tunnels. The space I was in was walled off with a crude grate of lashed together sticks.

I braced myself against the back wall and kicked hard at the grate... and found it didn't budge much. Alright... I thought, it was a crudely but effectively made grate. I patted myself down and found everything was gone, even the hookshot that everyone else tended to ignore. Damn it. Again, I set to kicking the grate but that was quickly proving to be a futile exercise. After a few minutes at that, I gave up with a silent curse and drifted down to sit with my back against the grate.

This was a new one for me. I wasn't often captured and never by lizalfos or anything like them. The Gerudo, sure, but this seemed odd to me. I was mulling over this when I felt something poke me in the back. It made me nearly jump out of my skin and I moved away from the grate so fast I rapped my head on the ceiling again.

I was rubbing it as I turned to see what had poked me, only to find Sheik silently laughing at me. Apparently his awe of the Hero of Time was wearing off, I thought wryly and I swam to the grate to watch as he undid the latch on the outside. He was wearing a Zora tunic and I reached through to tug at it in question.

He looked up and, with a hand steadying his face wrap he started to point in one direction but then seemed to think better of it and just waved my question off. We'd be able to discuss it once we were back in air. He opened the door and I swam out to find he had my belongings already.

I gave him another questioning look, but he waved me to follow him. As I did, we passed several dead, water lizalfos. Most of them looked to have had their throats slit from behind. _'Oh sure,'_ I joked mentally. _'Do it the easy way.'_ When we reached the main tunnel I got my bearings back and motioned for him to follow me further down the passageway.

Along the track we ran into a few other groups of the water breathing lizalfos but now that I had Sheik backing me up, we made easy work of them and it wasn't long till the passage way opened up into an enormous room. While the tunnels had been irregular and naturally shaped by the water, this place was a perfect sphere that had to be more than a hundred feet wide. Swimming about the middle was an enormous fish. Though I didn't know where to place it, the fish seemed strangely familiar. It was swimming languidly around the center of the room, around a small pinpoint of blue light.

I glanced to Sheik and tightened my grip on my hookshot before kicking off towards the fish and light. As I neared it, I saw the fish was pulsing with a sickening blackness that seemed to be driving back the small point of light. This had to be the cause of the stopped water and I was just about to fire my hookshot at the fish when it turned and saw me. Suddenly I knew where I had seen this thing at: the tank in the witch Rova's home.

It sent a pulse of blackness at me and I was momentarily stunned, my vision wavering in a way that made it hard to aim at the thing. Taking the opportunity, it swam fast at me, but it hadn't noticed Sheik, who had hung back a bit as I had charged in. Sheik's daggers were unthrowable in the water, but he swam fast and soon he was coming up at the fish's left side.

This caught its attention and it swung its head to face Sheik and I saw its wide maw open, ringed with needle like teeth ready to tear into him. Now that the fish's energy wasn't focused on me, I was able to fire my hookshot at it and thankfully I hit it squarely in the side. The fish twisted painfully at the shot but instead of just using it to bludgeon, I used it to hook into the creature and as it locked onto it, I was drug through the water to meet the monstrosity.

No longer as large as a Hylian, it had obviously taken to its new home in here and had grown to over ten times that size. Firmly attached to its side, I kept the hookshot gripped to it as I pulled my sword free of its scabbard. In this close proximity, the sword was useful once more, and I drove it deep into it's scaly hide.

At this the beast bucked wildly and the black waves increased viscously as a cloud of blood started to surround us. It was so disorienting I almost lost my grip on it, but I managed to maintain as I yanked the sword free again to plunge it back in. Its thrashing was nearly knocking me free with every twist and I had just pulled my sword out once more when I was thrown free of the fish.

Unfortunately my hookshot was left attached to the fish and now it was angry. As I was back peddling away, the beast turned to charge me with its mouth wide to attack. For a moment I hoped that maybe Sheik would have a bright idea, but then I saw the dangling whatevers on its head and had an idea of my own. With my sword gripped tightly I stayed exactly where I was as it barreled towards me.

Right before it reached me, I kicked fiercely against the water upwards and instead of being eaten I struck its top lip. With that, I rolled back over its head and barely grabbed hold of the extensions coming off of its head. Due to the wounds I had already inflicted, the water around the fish was dark with blood and was more than a little uncomfortable to breathe, but I moved fast to ram my sword through its skull. Once more it twisted and writhed to dislodge me, but it didn't last very long. After only a few desperate twists it slowed to nothing. Once it had stilled I drew my sword free of it and kicked off get out of the bloody cloud.

No sooner had I escaped it, Sheik rushed up to me. Because we were still in water, he wasn't able to stop before careening into me. We spun awkwardly from the impact, all tangled up, and I had to laugh silently at the ridiculousness. We awkwardly pushed apart while still trying to come to a stop. Once we were face to face again I saw he was laughing too. I didn't have time to consider our sudden closeness, though, as the tiny blue light started to brighten behind us.

I turned from him to look at it, and, with a glance at Sheik, I swam towards the tiny but growing light. There I found that the source of the strengthening light was a small crystal. All and all it was about half the size of my fist and unlike the crystals I had retrieved to gain the Master Sword, this wasn't polished and set with gold. Instead, it was simply a raw chunk of pale blue crystal. As I reached out to touch the smooth hard surface, I could feel water flowing out of it.

First it was gradual, like putting my hand in a little stream, but bit by bit, it was increasing and suddenly I realized that very shortly the crystal would be back to normal and this entire cavern system would be filled with rushing water once more. As quickly as I could I turned and grabbed Sheik to pull him back towards the way we had come.

He took no convincing and soon we were swimming out as quickly as we could when I remembered my hookshot. I swore silently in the water and turned for the cloud of blood that hid the fish. Sheik grabbed for me, not knowing what I was after, but I continued towards the dead fish. The blood made it hard but I found the hookshot and made for the exit, fast, though I could already feel the water moving quickly around me.

I saw Sheik was waiting stubbornly at the exit for me and I waved him to continue through as I followed. Though we swam as fast as we could, it was quickly becoming a moot point as the water around us was pushing harder and faster to drive us out. I couldn't help but fear being bounced into one of those dead ends and being trapped behind the rushing waters forever.

No matter how hard we fought to keep control in the speeding waters, we were less than halfway out when it became apparent that it was a lost cause. I used the last bit of force I had against the current to reach out for Sheik and hold him close. Being separated in this seemed the worst thing and judging by the way he clung on, he obviously agreed.

We curled around each other, trying to stay as tightly wrapped up as possible to better survive the occasional blows we received from the cave walls. Several times I was slammed hard and I was sure a few ribs had broke, but I kept my grip on Sheik as the water pushed us out. Suddenly we were back in the light and air as we were tossed up high on a geyser. I shouted with surprise to suddenly be twenty feet in the air. "Hold on!" I yelled to Sheik as we hit the apex of our ride up and was suddenly falling back down. Inwardly I prayed that more water had filled the spring while we were swimming out and, miraculously, it had.

We hit the water hard and fell down through it more than ten feet and before we swam back up, I looked around to see that the spring was already half full. Still holding onto each other, we burst out of the water and took another long gasp of air. "That... That..." Sheik tried to begin but we were both too out of breath and I shook my head to silence him.

"Come on, let's get to land!" I shouted over the rushing noise of the water that continued to jet high into the air.

We finally let go of each other to swim to JabuJabu's alter but we didn't linger there as the acidic rain was still falling. I pulled him along with me till we were safe in the tunnel that led back to the Zora's city, and grinned proudly to him for having finally fixed something that the witch had done.

"That..." he began again, pointing back at the spring. "That was the source of the water. That was Nayru's magic, wasn't it? That was hers," he said, the awe of what we had just seen clear in his voice and again I let myself see the wonder of it through him. It had been amazing, I realized, to see that. It had been placed there at the beginning of Hyrule, before there were people, before there was anything but rock and air. It was probably one of the oldest and most sacred things in Hyrule and I had touched it... and that witch had disrupted it.

I frowned heavily at the thought and turned back to him. "There must be a crystal of Din in Death Mountain. She must have done something to it to cause the eruptions."

He nodded and I ran out into the rain to retrieve our makeshift cloaks. "Let's get back into the city and go through the passageway to Lake Hylia. Maybe we can find survivors there."

"Alright. These tunics are odd. It took me a moment to adjust to breathing the water," he said and I was thankful for the conversation to draw my attention away from my cracked ribs.

"How did you get one of those?" I asked, careful to keep my ribs as still as possible as I said it.

"After you were gone for a long while I went back into the city and found a store that had them. As we were assuming the king wouldn't mind us cutting up this," he said holding up the cloak in his arms, "I figured taking the tunic would be alright."

I grinned widely at him. "See? Now you're getting it."

He just rolled his red eyes at me and as we walked through the city we saw the water filling up the many pools and water channels. When we reached the main pool at the entrance, the waterfall was tumbling down once more to refill it, though suddenly my plan had lost a bit of its luster.

The water that was refilling the pool was flowing around the corpses of the dead Zoras and the idea of getting into the water was unbearable till I felt Sheik's hand on my arm. "There maybe people beyond that door that need to be told the city is safe so they can tend to their dead."

I nodded and climbed down the ladder to swim though the water to the entrance to the lake. With a last look to Sheik, I dove down through the enchanted tunnel and into the darkness within it.

---

The darkness broke to reveal the lake, though it was almost entirely dry. The river hadn't yet built up enough to reach the whole way here, though the magical tunnel was depositing water into the lake in a steady stream. I stepped away from the tunnel and the water pouring out of it as Sheik tumbled out as well. "You okay?" I asked as I wrapped my own cloak around myself to fend off the curtain-like rain.

"Yes, Hero," he replied and stood up to shield himself as well.

"There," I said and pointed to the temple. Much like it had been when Ganondorf had been in power, there was only water around the entrance to it. As I looked through the rain-tossed water I saw just beneath the surface a few Zora watching us curiously. Without saying anything more, I jogged down to the water. "We're, friends, we're friends," I said as I saw them brandish weapons at us. "We were sent by the Princess," (not a complete lie). "Are there more survivors?"

One broke the surface to reply, "Yes, everyone is in the temple since the rains started."

I nodded and came up to the edge of the water. "Can we come in to speak with whomever's in charge?"

He dipped back down and spoke to the others beneath the water before they waved us in. Eager to get out of the rain, I got into the water and swam down through the door, dragging the cloak with me as I went. As I reached the doorway, I looked back to see that Sheik was following and then made my way into the temple once more.

Inside, we found that the water had been raised to the highest levels and many, many Zora came out from the various hallways to watch as we swam behind the guards. It was a relief to see that the king was alive when we finally reached the top. I was quick to explain to him what was happening and what had been done to the spring.

With the news that the city was safe and the water had been freed, he clapped his hands happily and called for the guards to go and inspect this. "Tomorrow we will go back to the city and see to those that were lost, but for tonight we will remain here. I will have my people show you two to a dry room were you can rest. I'm sure you're very much in need of it," he said warmly and then laughed as he looked us over.

"I must say, you're just as direct as I remember, my boy. I had thought that age would take your impetuousness from you, but I'm glad to see I was wrong," he said with a smiling nod at the remains of his cloak. "That was a gift from a Goron leader to my great, great grandfather. Who would have known that it would become a cloak against the rain for two young boys," he said with a chuckle. "I think it's a fine use for that old rag. Good night, you two."

I thanked him, as did Sheik (who looked a little dazed by the king's reaction), and we were led away to one of the upper rooms. Not only was it dry, but also it had a great deal of empty boxes stacked up in the far corner and I was fast to break them apart for wood for a fire. As I piled up the bits and pieces, Sheik had to laugh. "Are you capable of finding any solution that doesn't involve you destroying something?"

I grinned and set the pile ablaze. "It works, doesn't it?"

He sighed dramatically but turned as a Zora surfaced in the pool of water to the one end of the room. "His majesty sent me to bring these to you," she explained as she sat a basket onto the floor. "If you have any other needs. I will be only a couple levels below."

I thanked her and picked up the basket. "Perfect," I said with a smile and walked back to Sheik.

"What did she give us?"

"Potions, and some fruits. Probably all they had that wasn't raw fish."

He nodded and drank the potion that I gave him, while I did the same. With a sigh, I felt the bones knit back into place and my various cuts, stabs, scrapes, and bruises vanished as well. Eagerly we devoured the fruit they had given us before curling up on the stone floor close to the fire.

---

Sleep was not my friend that night. Though I drifted off quick enough thanks to the tiring day, I was plagued by nightmares of dying Zoras that I couldn't reach in time. I was both at the Zora city and at the beach in Termina and every Zora that died was Mikau. No matter how hard I fought or how fast I ran I couldn't reach him, any of him. They all died on dried riverbeds surrounded by the corpses of others I had failed.

Suddenly the sea of dead Zoras parted. Someone had grabbed me, and I threw up my hands to fend him or her off. In a flash, instincts took over and I had my hands around their wrists, ready to throw them from me when his voice drifted through the haze of Zora cries. "Hero! It's me!"

I blinked and saw that I had Sheik braced away from me and for a moment I couldn't figure out why he was there, or where we were... or where the Zoras had gone... but then reality seeped in and I remembered. "Sheik? Oh, I'm sorry. I..." I started to try to explain as I released him embarrassedly.

"You were having a nightmare. It seemed quite intense," he finished for me, concern painting his features and soft voice.

I nodded and rubbed my neck awkwardly. It was more that a little embarrassing to be caught having nightmares. "It wasn't too bad. Sorry I woke you."

"It didn't seem like a small thing," he replied, not giving in on the point. "...Who's Mikau?" he asked and I flinched at hearing the name. "I'm sorry," he apologized quickly. "I didn't... I shouldn't have pried."

"No, it's alright. It's just something from a long time ago. I, ah... don't have a good track record with saving Zoras... He was from Termina and some pirates killed him while he was trying to protect a woman's eggs. I tried to save him," I explained, almost as if I were defending myself from an accusation of negligence. "I tried over and over and over again. I kept going back, trying everything and anything I could, but nothing worked. I don't even know how many times I tried and failed..." How many times I had watched him die only to rush back and do it again? I shuddered at the memory and hid my face in my hands. Some _Hero of Time_.

"Because you could roll back time," he said as he shifted to sit beside me, remembering what I had told him about my first time in Termina. "You just kept going back over and over again to try and save him?"

I nodded miserably. "And failed every time." _Every... damn... time..._

"You were only what? Ten? Eleven?" he questioned and I only shrugged. That hadn't stopped me from fighting the Dongo, purging the evil from the Deku Tree, or anything else that I had done. "You expect too much of yourself," he said softly and wasn't deterred by my shaking head. "You're only one person; you can't fix everything."

"I thought I was the Hero of Time?" I asked him bitterly, raising my head to meet his eyes and I saw his mind working around my point.

"...You are ...but you're still a mortal person," he said slowly and I had a feeling he was saying it as much for himself as for me. After spending how long seeing me as some perfect, ultimate Hero of all Time, it had to be odd to realize that I could fail like anyone else, and despite all my talk, I had to admit I had partially bought into the image, too. To have failed, to have not saved all those Zoras was crushing, though I knew that Sheik was right. "We'll go to the Fire Temple tomorrow and find the witch and stop her and the eruptions," he stated confidently. "You've already restored the river and the Zora's city, and tomorrow you'll fix the rest of it." He laid a hand on my shoulder and despite myself I leaned into the comforting touch.

"We'll have to see about finding you a shirt made from the Goron's fabric," I said, not willing to move away from him just yet. The screams that still insisted on playing in the back of my mind got dimmer the closer he was, and at that moment, I just wanted him to drive them away for me.

"What?"

"I couldn't have killed the fish and restored the fountain without you. I don't want to take the risk that I'll need you in there too, so we'll have to find you a tunic."

He was still for a moment before he nodded. "I'd be happy to accompany you, Hero... of course." His continued formality was a little funny right then and I smiled at it and the pleased tone I caught under his words. He was "singular" to me, and very needed. Exhausted and drained, I fell asleep leaning against his shoulder, and slept well.

To be continued.


	11. Chapter 10

Author's Notes: Praise to those who praised me. Thanks KT, Lady of the squirrels, Kairan Akiyama, Lamika, noperfect917, Venks, fireflyofearth, Eisenkraehe, Surreptitious Chi X, Saiyou-the-lover, and FlamingDoritos.

Glad to see everyone is enjoying this fic so much. I'd like to say I'm sorry for making you cry, Akiyama, ...but really I love it when I do that to people. Link's reaction to Mikau dying was actually a direct copy of what I did in MM. I had to have rolled back time a dozen times before I finally gave up on saving him.

Also, thanks especially to Surreptitious Chi X. It's wonderful that fans like my fic, but it's a large compliment that someone that's never played the games likes my fic as well. I'm glad you and everyone else enjoys my writing so much.

Chapter 10

We woke the next day in the same position (pleasantly enough) and we gathered our things again to head out through the temple. At the exit of the temple, still underwater, we saw the lake was almost entirely filled and many Zora were swimming though the passageway to the city. The clean water from the fountain did wonders to dilute the toxic rain, and as we swam towards the tunnel as well, the water only had a slightly sour taste to it. The guards waved us in when we neared the gateway and with only a moments hesitation at having to face the city once more, I swam in.

Much to my relief, the Zora had apparently been working tirelessly to restore the city. The dead in this section had been mostly removed, though a few were lined up on the far bank of the main pool, covered with white cloths. I dipped my head at the sight of them and escaped out the exit of the city before any of the surrounding Zora could say anything. No matter what they had to say, be it praise or accusation, I knew it was nothing I wanted to hear.

I waved Sheik to follow me when I leapt through the now swiftly falling waterfall. Once we were on the other side, I was fast to run to the pool that would take us back to the Lost Woods. Sheik still didn't seem to like the idea, but using these magical passageways would shave more than a day off our trip to the Sheikah path around Death Mountain. This time, thankfully, the trip through the Lost Woods was uneventful and with our red cloaks sheilding us, we carefully wove our way through the disorienting forest.

Throughout the trip through the Woods, Sheik kept as tight a grip on me as before. There was no one to disrupt us this time, so I was able to better enjoy the feel of his closeness and this time he wasn't just holding onto my hand. After getting a good look at what becomes of those lost to the Woods, Sheik's phobia had only been intensified. He was now holding onto my arm, pressed close enough to me that he was resting his chin on my shoulder by the time we left the woods, and I certainly wasn't complaining. Not only did I shamefully enjoy the benefits I reaped from his fear of the Woods, but I also found it a rather excusable fear. After enduring being within the mask without complaints, diving down to save me in the fountain, and drawing his weapons against the Fierce Deity, Sheik was more than entitled to this small weakness.

I checked on Epona to be sure she was being shielded well from the rain, and, as I had thought, she was. I would be sure to thank the Kokiri properly after all this, but for now… "I'm sorry, girl," I told her as she nuzzled me. "You have to stay here for now."

She nickered at that and bumped her nose against my face.

"I know, I know. I don't like it either, but I can't protect you from the rain and I don't want you to get hurt. Stay here where it's safe," I explained and though she nickered argumentatively I turned and headed out of the village with Sheik.

"You're rather attached to your horse, aren't you?" Sheik asked as we trudged over the rope bridge and out into Hyrule Field.

I nodded. "She was essential when I was dealing with Ganon and when Zelda rolled back time she was the first thing I went to get back. I don't know how and I'm sure you think I'm too fond of her, but I'm positive she remembers everything."

He shook his head. "Actually I'm more surprised by how closely the legends depicted you," he explained. When I looked over to him I saw that small smile in his eyes (a refreshing change from the worshiping awe I'd seen there when I'd first encountered him in the snow).

"Oh?" I asked, both curious and a little afraid to hear yet another story from Sheik's childhood about me.

"There was a stained glass window in the Prince's play room that showed you mounted on her with a bow in hand. There was much debate between the scholars on whether you were a horseman or a swordsman. Apparently they underestimated your versatility," he added with a chuckle that was so soft it was almost just a slight shaking of his shoulders.

I shook my head at his amusement as we followed the filling Zora River to the bridge. "Just one or the other, huh? I don't know which I'd consider myself more..." I trailed off in thought before looking back over at him. "You said they had Epona in the picture?"

He nodded. "Yes. They didn't know her name anymore than yours, but I was quite surprised to see you with her when the Princess was wearing me. She looked almost exactly like the window in his room, but I suppose the window and tapestries and so forth were lost over the years."

"If they weren't, Zelda never mentioned them. I'll have to ask her once we're through with this." Honestly, I was interested a little myself so see what the mystics and scholars of Sheik's childhood had thought Epona and I would look like, but the fact that they had depicted her was good to know. Maybe she was assigned her task by the goddesses as well and that was why she remembered and understood so well. It also validated my near instinctual draw to her and dependence on her. Though a horse was poor for conversation, I didn't know what I would have done if I'd been utterly alone all those years after Ganondorf.

We made some small talk as we traveled through the rain, and I explained the Kokiri to Sheik and what it had been like growing up in the woods. My attempts to draw out details of his life didn't meet with much success, but I didn't let that deter me. Sheik was naturally a very closed person and so was I, so I knew well the habit of nodding and listening rather than talking. By the time we crossed the bridge and turned towards the wooded area that Sheik pointed out, I was rather sure that I had never talked so much in my whole life.

As we neared the spot that Sheik said used to have a trail going through it, I looked down at the grass beneath my feet. It looked sickly and stricken. First left dry and then drown in poisoned water, the once brilliant green of Hyrule Field was being stained by mottled patches ranging from wilted and stricken to yellow and dying. If the rain wasn't stopped soon, every farming field would be ruined and the land would be facing starvation.

It was dark when we reached the remains of the trail to the east of Kakariko and we both thought it best to try to find shelter along this broken path rather than attempt to sleep on Hyrule Field. As it was, we walked well into the night before we found a rocky outcropping that protected well against the rain. "Finally," I said with a sigh as I shrugged off the red cloak to leave it bundled up in a far corner of the alcove.

"I was beginning to think we'd be walking all night," Sheik said as he did the same and looked about our moderately sized shelter.

"Cozy isn't it?" I asked with a grin as I poked into the crannies for any dry leaves and sticks that might be around. "Maybe we should make a summer home out of it."

"It would let in the summer breeze wonderfully, wouldn't it?" he joked back and I laughed a little as I nodded.

"That it would and it's private as well. A win-win I think," I said as I tossed the meager bits I had found into a pile. "Though at the moment, we're rather short on materials for a fire. This should burn for only a half hour at the most."

He nodded and took a seat against the wall across from it and I joined him with a slight groan to finally be off my feet. I leaned forward to it and, extending my hand over the pile, I concentrated on the small spark in the back of my mind to set the pile alight. "Well," I said with a sigh as I leaned back. "That should be enough to dry out our boots at least." As it was the leather around the bottoms of mine was looking a little pale and, glancing over at Sheik's, I saw his were looking the same. "We'll probably both have to buy new ones after this."

"Probably," he replied waving his feet back and forth before the fire. "I'm sorry the path isn't here, as I said it would be, Hero. It used to run through here."

I shook my head at his apologies. "Don't worry about it. You know the way roughly and it's better than I could have done on my own. Not your fault that it fell into disuse over the years."

"I suppose it was naïve to think it would still remain after so long," he said as he leaned forward to hold his wrapped fingers before the flames.

I shrugged. "I don't know. A lot of things remain for a long time. What was this path used for before? Just reaching the Fire Temple?"

"...No. No, it led to a small village, but I guess it's been abandoned."

"Oh?" I asked, curious about why Sheik had hesitated, but he only nodded and leaned back against the stone. It was aggravating to know so little about him, but again I didn't press. Like telling him that Zelda had given him to me and that he could remove his mask and reclaim his name, I didn't want to rush anything. For who knows how long he had been shut up in that tent all alone or watching people interact without being able to do anything but watch. When this was over I'd tell him that he was bound to me (telling him sooner might also cause him to risk himself foolishly to protect me instead of putting Zelda's interests first anyway). Then, much later, I figured I'd tell him that he could take the mask off.

"How much further do you think we have to go till we reach the temple?" I asked.

"Um... with the condition, or rather lack there of, of the road, I don't think we'll reach it before tomorrow night. I think it'll be late into the next day before we get there."

I nodded and with a yawn, I let myself drift off beside him, eager for the morning to come and the end of this disaster.

---

We had been traveling several hours after our small breakfast of bread and cheese (I was still amused by how Sheik savored such a meager meal) when we reached a wide clearing. Once the sun had come up (however dimmed it was by the black clouds above), we could see the crumbling remains of stone torches that had once lined the path. We could even see that what we had mistaken for naturally scattered stone was actually stepping stones. The road must have looked nice at one time. The whole time we walked Sheik was even quieter than usual and soon I fell into the wary silence with him.

I wasn't sure why he was suddenly so tense, but it only got worse the further we went. Had he had some sort of problems with the abandoned village? Had they been dark people that he feared were still lurking or was it something else entirely? A small voice suggested that maybe he was just sick of talking with me, but I disregarded that quickly. He wasn't annoyed or bored, he was pensive and worried. I wished I had pressed the matter back under the overhang when we reached the clearing and saw the village spread out before us.

It had once been a nice sized hamlet, a little larger than Kakariko actually and its small homes and shops ambled along flagstone roads. Unlike Kakariko, the homes were mostly built of stacked stone blocks with slate roofs (those that were still whole enough to call roofs). By the look of it, no one had lived here for hundreds of years and before I said anything, I looked over to Sheik.

He stood immobile in his roughly cut cloak. The only movement was the shifting of the red fabric as the rain beat down on it and I wasn't even entirely sure that he was breathing. "Sheik...?" I asked softly but gone no response. He didn't even blink and I couldn't tell if he was near tears or flight. "Sheik," I said again, louder, and reached out to touch him despite it causing my hand to meet with the falling rain.

"Yes, Hero," he responded quickly, practically snapping to attention.

"It's 'Link', and what's wrong?"

"Nothing. Nothing is wrong, Hero. The road to the Fire Temple is this way," he replied shortly in his matter-of-fact formality and started down the street.

I didn't follow for a moment, trying to guess at what had him this spooked. As I walked swiftly to catch up with him, I decided that I'd been patient enough. Something had him very spooked. "Sheik... Sheik stop for a minute."

"Yes, Hero?" he asked as he complied, though again I met with a stony expression of duty and formality. I hated that expression.

"Don't say 'Yes, Hero?' like everything is normal. This place has you more freaked out than the Lost Woods, and I want to know why."

"I'm not-" he started to deny, but I wasn't hearing.

"You are too freaked out. You're practically jumping out of your skin to get us out of here and I want to know why? What was this village?"

"It wasn't anything! I just want to get to the Fire Temple!" he snapped back.

"It was something! And I want to know what! Was this place something forbidden or evil?"

"No!"

"Well, did the people do something wrong? Did something bad happen to you here?" I demanded, looking around us at what looked like a very innocent looking little village.

"No!" he shouted again, looking more upset by the minute, but I wasn't giving in.

"Well then, what did-" I cut myself off as I saw a faded, painted symbol on one of the few doors that was still mostly on its hinges. It was the same eye that was on the gossip stones and Sheik's tunic... Suddenly I felt very foolish as I looked around the abandoned village that I already knew was located on the way to a Sheikah shortcut into the Fire Temple. "...This was your home, wasn't it?"

He was silent for a long while before he dropped his eyes. "...I didn't live here long. I went to serve the royal family when I was fifteen... I knew the Sheikah were gone," he added quickly. "I had heard the Princess Zelda saying that Lady Impa was the last, so I knew that they wouldn't be here. I thought that maybe Hylians or humans had moved in, so I didn't really expect it to be just… abandoned. I guess the Lady Impa came from somewhere else. I guess people have been gone from here for a very long time," he said and the way he was shifting his weight told me he was embarrassed to be so upset by this, but it seemed more than reasonable to me. "I'm sorry I concerned you, Hero."

"Don't be. You've got every reason to be bothered by this. I can't imagine what this must be like for you. I'm... I'm really sorry I shouted at you," I apologized as I reached back out into the rain to grip his shoulder. His shoulder slumped a little under my grip and I tightened it reassuringly as I stepped closer to him. I could see that he had his hand over his face and I left him stand there for a moment to collect himself, but after a long moment without a change I spoke up gently. "Listen, you said that we probably wouldn't reach the Fire Temple until late this evening right? That means we'll have to find a place to camp before heading into the temple. ...Would you prefer to find a building here to bed down in for the night?" I wasn't sure if he would or if he'd rather rush out of here as quickly as possible.

He began to raise his head but then seemed to think it would be better to keep his face covered and turned from me. "I... I don't want us to delay our task just for-"

"We won't," I assured him. "I'd be no good charging into the temple exhausted from a day long hike. Better to rest anyway. Whether we do it here or further on is entirely up to you. I'm sure we can find a place in here that will give us enough shelter, but we can probably find somewhere else further on, too." I thought it was most likely in this town, but if he wanted to get away from it I'd happily hunt all night for shelter elsewhere.

After a few pensive moments, he nodded. "Yes, yes I'd like to stay a night here, if it's not disruptive to our mission"

"It's not, don't worry," I promised and patted his shoulder before pulling my now stinging hand back under my cloak. "Lead on, where ever you'd like. We have hours before dusk if you'd like to walk the streets before finding somewhere to sleep."

Again he nodded and seemed to gather himself back up. "Thank you," he said softly in an emotion filled voice and, with most of the strength returned his shoulders, he waved me to follow him along a street to our right.

As we went, we passed a fountain in a little square, a large building that looked like a place of worship, several smaller buildings that could have been shops or municipal buildings as well as many homes of varying sizes. We walked for quite a while, making turns in a way that led me to believe that we were following some track that he had walked a lot as a boy, but he never spoke up to confirm that suspicion. All through the long trek through the crumbling Sheikah village, Sheik never spoke a word, but rather silently walked a half a step before me, turning here or there, pausing at this corner or that building, lost in his own world.

I wondered what he was seeing in his mind. When he stopped at this or that building, did he remember it as a friend's house? A relative? Was it a crotchety old man who used to shake his cane at Sheik when he was a little boy? It could have belonged to anyone really, but this time I stayed quiet and left him to his thoughts.

It was getting darker when we stopped in front of a nice, little home on the north side of the village. It looked like its backyard had once been neatly fenced in by a stacked stone fence and by the looks of it had had a garden in one corner. He stood before its rotted door for a long while before he stepped up and tentatively pushed it open. It swung awkwardly on one hinge, but didn't fall, as I had feared it would.

The twilight did little to illuminate the inside, but the roof was mostly in tact so I was able to find a loose board easily that was dry enough to burn. I hoisted it up and lit it with a fist-sized pulse of flames. Soon it was burning well enough to light the room moderately. Still Sheik said nothing but was now able to walk through the decrepit house. It was only one story (thankfully as the two story ones would have worried me for safety) and he carefully walked around the main living and kitchen area and then back a hallway to the few side rooms that had probably been bedrooms. They even had the rotting remains of beds and other various furniture pieces in them. All the while, I held the light up behind him so he could see.

He came to a stop in one of the small bedrooms, just standing in the middle and looking around with a lost and uncertain expression on his face. On the far wall was the remains of a bed and a window over it. A small hole in the roof above had obviously let in just enough rain in the past years to let a small cluster of plants grow on the bed. Sadly the rain now was no help to the little green things and already the small white flowers were looking wrinkled and sickly. Sheik stepped forward and, after a moment of looking around. Went to grab the door that had fallen to the floor long ago. He struggled to get it up for a second before I found a spot to stick our light so I could help him. Without a word he directed me to lift the door to the bed and with a little work, we had built a small shelter over the plants. When rain was clean again the door would have to be removed, but for now, it would protect them from the witch's poison. "Thanks..." he said shakily and I placed my hand back on his shoulder reassuringly.

Again he leaned into the small touch and I could feel a small trembling in him. "Sheik...?"

"Can we stay here, tonight?" he asked in a voice that I was certain was higher and less steady than he would have preferred.

"Sure."

"I know there are probably better places that we could use. The fireplace probably doesn't work anymore and-" he continued quickly but I stepped around to face him.

"Sheik, it's alright. I'm fine with this place. Whatever you want."

He had his head down and swallowed before nodding. "Thank you."

"Why don't you clean off a bit of floor for us to sleep on and I'll go back through and see if I can find enough wood to get a fire going?"

He nodded silently and I squeezed his arm a moment before leaving with the light to hunt for more wood. With the roof mostly whole, there was actually a decent bit and after I had a good armful of fallen boards and broken furniture I headed back into the bedroom.

Sheik was keeping his hands busy pushing away debris from the driest corner and I stacked a decent amount of the wood into the fireplace, hoping it would work. Thankfully, it did and soon we had a bright and warm fire blazing in the dusty brick fireplace. "I only have two blankets in my pack," I explained as I rummaged in it. "Everything else is on Epona, but if we spread the one out on the floor and share the other, we should be alright, or at least better than we were last night under the overhang."

He nodded and took the blanket I offered him and he spread it out with a carefulness that said he was still lost in his own thoughts. While he did that, I took our cloaks and spread them out near the fire as well as kicking off my boots and taking off my tunic and gloves to let them dry, too. If I'd been on my own I would have stripped off my pants but given the situation I figured I'd leave them on. When he saw me doing it, Sheik did the same and had just hung up his own tunic when his eyes fell on my left hand. "What happened?" he asked and I looked down guiltily at the reddened skin of my fingers.

"I was my normal intelligent self," I said with a guilty grin. "I yell at you about washing out your mask but then I stupidly kept reaching out into the rain. It'll be fine."

"Have you rinsed it?"

I shrugged. "I didn't want to waste any of our good water," I explained but Sheik shook his head and pulled out one of the water skins.

"That's your sword hand, Hero," he admonished. "What good will water do us if you can't fight went the time comes?" he admonished me and I watched as he pulled off his own hand wraps far faster than I would have thought possible by the looks of them. "Here," he said and motioned for me to produce my stinging hand. Once I had he cupped one of his hands under mine and poured the water over it before pushing the skin back in my good hand so that he could rub my injured hand thoroughly between his own. "Again," he said and I dutifully poured the water over my own hand so that he could rub off any remaining poison. "You kept grabbing my shoulder," he said as he worked. "That's why you were reaching out wasn't it?" he asked a little softer than necessary and I shrugged, not wanting him to be guilty over it. As he finished he shook off his own hands. "It should be alright now, or rather it won't get worse."

"Thanks," I said with a smile and he just shook his head at my thick headedness.

"What do we have left in the food supplies?" he asked as he went to sit on the blanket.

I pulled out a good bit of bread and cheese as well as some jerky and we settled in for a quiet meal. "Thank you," Sheik said after a bit and I looked up questioningly. "You burnt your hand comforting me," he stated and I shrugged embarrassedly. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it."

He nodded and took a few more bites before he spoke again. "...This was my room," he said softly and I nodded slightly, having guessed that. "I feel silly for wanting to protect those flowers but..." he trailed off and I shook my head. I didn't think it was that silly, given everything. He smiled over at me at that. "Thank you for helping me. This... this place wouldn't have been... bearable... without you."

I reached out and squeezed his shoulder firmly in reply and he slumped again at the offer of support, a hand coming up to his face. "I just didn't think it would be like this..." he trailed off, his voice sounding shaky again and, despite my resolution to keep a friendly distance, I moved to sit beside him and wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

"I'm sorry," I whispered and inwardly wished for some way to roll back time for him, to make this place alive again with his family and friends intact. Anything to fix this wound in him.

Much to my relief, he didn't pull away from me but rather turned towards me enough that he could bury his face in my shoulder, drawing as close as our position allowed. As I felt his shoulders shaking I shifted my position a little more so that I could wrap both my arms around him and pull him closer. Again he only drew tighter against me as his arms wrapped around my back.

I held him tightly like that while he wept on my shoulder for minutes or hours; I couldn't tell and didn't care. The smell of his hair mingled with the salt of tears and he felt warm in my arms. Honestly, while I was doing it to comfort him, it was greater of a comfort to me than I would have guessed. In his silent sobs I found piles of memories of the times I had desperately wanted for someone to hold me close like this and let me cry on their shoulder. Though I felt selfish for it, I felt my own eyes prick with tears and thankfully any that fell were caught quickly by the back of my hand before Sheik felt them.

When the shaking of his shoulders had stilled, he pulled back from me with his head ducked to hide the effects of his crying. "I'm sorry, I..."

"Don't. If any situation would call for it, this is it," I said and he let out a small slightly wet laugh.

"I suppose so. ...Thank you."

Don't mention it," I said as I reached for the remaining blanket. "We should sleep. I think we're both a little drained," I said and meant it completely. Hopefully after a nights sleep I wouldn't have to fight the urge to kiss him quite as forcefully as I was having to now. ...Goddesses, how tempting it had been to just draw his face to mine, push that infernal mask down, and kiss him till he didn't hurt anymore and all the loneliness was gone from his eyes. Thankfully, I had resisted the urge and now sleep was the goal.

He nodded at my suggestion and moved to lie on the hard floor beside me. Despite the desire for more, that tender hug had actually left me feeling very warm and contented and I was asleep almost as soon as laid down beneath the blanket.

To be continued.


	12. Chapter 11

Author's Notes: I'm glad people like my descriptiveness. I think I've finally found the proper level of it. I'm a very visual person and a world designer so I've always leaned towards over description. World and environment I'm a champ at, it's the plots that tend to loose me. Thankfully this story has gone well.

As ever thanks to my reviewers: fireflyofearth, Lamika, Shrimp, Kai-chan Akiyama, Surreptitious Chi X, Albel Nox, noperfect917, Eisenkrähe, Saiyou-the-lover, and Venks. You all rock. 

Chapter 11

I woke the next morning warm and far too comfortable to have slept on a hard, age warped, wood floor. I found the fire was still going a little bit and it had done well to heat the little bedroom, but the true source of my warmth was a little closer and much less likely to burn me. During the night, Sheik had curled against me and I had, in turn wrapped my arms around him. My surprise at this caused me to start and that unfortunately roused him.

He let out a soft moan at being woken and started as well to find himself in that position. "Oh... Oh, I'm sorry," he apologized quickly but I shook my head.

"It was cold last night," I replied just as quickly. "We probably just inched closer through the whole night." He knew as well as I did that it had been perfectly warm during the night, but he was quick to nod his agreement to my theory. Soon we were up and dressed again in our thankfully fully dry clothes.

"We should reach the Fire Temple before noon," he explained as we ate our cold breakfast.

The warm fire made me want a hot meal, but we had nothing to make. With the rain any game was burrowed away in hiding so cold bread, cheese, and jerky was it. Of course we'd not yet found an answer to our other problem: how Sheik was to enter the temple without the protection of the Goron fabric. With the rain, the Gorons had left the field in front of Kakariko and the likelihood any of them would happen to have a shirt was zero to nil. Despite my apprehension about going it alone, it was looking like that would be exactly what I'd be doing.

Once the remains of our breakfast had been repacked, we wrapped our red cloaks around ourselves and headed out once more. The night seemed to do Sheik wonders, and while we made our way out of the village he started to tell me about it and what the various buildings had been. What I had thought was a small temple of some sort had been called the Wind Chapel and had been the main place for the Sheikah to worship their patron deity, Farore. Apparently it had once hung with brilliant green banners with blue and red designs over them to symbolize that the three were inseparable even though they were calling to Farore more than the others.

Courage above all else, Sheik had explained, was the creed of every Sheikah. Power was a tool and wisdom was left to those they protected. They knew only their task and the strength of heart to see it through, bearing whatever weights that might be hoisted upon them along the way. His back was straight as he explained this and I felt a greater kinship to the Sheikah than I had before. While I had no inclination to cover my face and loose my name, the basics were very similar to how I had to live: toiling through anything without complaint, no matter how much you might like to curse the fates. It was that strength he'd been raised with that had let him survive the extended imprisonment in the mask.

He was also quick to point out other buildings. The chief's home, the large building that the council had met at, as well as a smaller building that was a library and a place where scholars sat and considered the mysteries their people were so intertwined with. I wondered how many times I had been discussed in those walls and what they had thought I would be like. I was willing to bet it hadn't occurred to them that the swordsman/horseman would need a shoulder on the occasional lonely night.

Childhood friends and rivals were pointed out as well as relatives and interesting characters. Sheik laughed as he told me about an old woman who had been a stealth trainer in her younger days but in Sheik's time she had been noted more for her love of spices. Apparently everyone in the village knew to eat anything she had cooked with apprehension and a stomach soother if possible. It was like a gate had swung open in him and suddenly I was getting to see all that he had been walling up. It was so pleasant, the morning walk even beyond the village went by in a blink of an eye and shortly we found ourselves before an ornately carved stone doorway. It reminded me heavily of the entrance to the Goron city from the Lost Woods except that this one was blocked by a solid stone door that didn't look like it wanted to be opened. On the center of it, amongst many strange carvings, sat the eye of the Sheikah.

Worthlessly, I looked around from where I stood, as if a tunic for Sheik would magically appear. Unfortunately it didn't and with a sigh I turned to Sheik. "I don't much like it, but it looks like I'll be going in alone once you get this open. If by some miracle I run into another of the Goron's tunics while I'm in there, I'll bring it back out for you."

He nodded and stepped up to the stone. Carefully, he pressed his splayed out fingertips to the stone and began muttering in a language that I didn't recognize. Once the words had left his lips, the stone groaned and ground slowly to life as the massive door swung outwards. We were both eager to get out of the rain so we stepped into the opening beyond it and there I found a torch. With a small spark, I set it afire, which was good because after I did, Sheik said, "The door will close on its own in a minute or two. I'll have to wait within here to let you back out."

"Okay," I said and shrugged off the wet cloak to find my Goron's tunic. It was stuffed to the bottom of my bag, but I was grateful that I had never gotten rid of it. Honestly I didn't have much use for it anymore, but I didn't want to give it up. After I had pulled it over my head, I ran my hands over the slightly scaly hide, remembering the odd feel of it and the weight of it after not having worn it in years. As I did, my hands stilled and my pale eyes narrowed.

Without explanation, I reached out and felt the wet cloak that was still wrapped around Sheik's shoulders... scaly... and almost the exact same shade of red.

"Hero?" he asked though his tone said he had seen the very thing I had.

"No... Why would that cloak have been made of Goron's fabric?" I asked aloud, not believing what I was seeing.

"A gift. He said it had been a gift many generations ago from the Goron chief," Sheik said and I groaned at that simple fact that I had forgotten. Damn my tendency to phase out when people were telling me unimportant trivia; the Zora king had said that while he was laughing that we'd cut it up.

"It's Goron fabric. The whole cloak was made of it," I said with a laugh as I shook my head.

"I can come in with you," Sheik added, and the relief in his voice made me feel a little warm again. "To think..." he trailed off and I nodded.

"I know. Well..." I said, looking to him as he was securing his cloak once more. "Ready?" he nodded and, with nothing more said, we headed down the long tunnel into the Fire Temple.

---

The tunnel opened up on a high ledge in the mid levels and before I even worried about finding a way down I concerned myself with finding how we would get back up. Thankfully, a torch was sitting on the one end of the outcropping of rock and that was as good as stairs with my hookshot, so, without further hesitation, I nimbly jumped down the many ledges of rock till I hit the cavern floor. While the other temples had been constructed of cleanly cut stone, the Fire Temple was only about a third like that, while the vast majority was the raw rock walls of the volcano. Across the room were many pools of lava.

I saw Sheik's apprehension and for a moment I wondered for my own sanity as I had no such worry about jumping over pits of lava. Surely that sort of an attitude was not one held by rational people, no matter what they had done in their lives. Maybe being a lunatic was part of my job description, I thought with a wry smile.

"Hero?" Sheik asked and I saw his confusion about my smile and I had to laugh. At least he though I was mad too. I just shook my head at him as I led him through the deadly temple. Though it had been quite awhile, I was a little surprised by how well I remembered it. All and all, it was rather easy to navigate. We came upon a few fiery keese and more than a handful of lava slugs, but those were just natural inhabitants of the temple. The dinalfos we came upon half way to the core of the temple were not.

A group of six of them seemed to be waiting for us to arrive and at the sight of us they jumped to attention, swords ready to cut us both to the ground. I was grateful to have Sheik with me because while I could have handled them, it would have been far more difficult and I wouldn't have escaped it unharmed. As it was, we handled them rather quickly and proceeded on with greater caution. The witch had planned for the occurrence of my finding a way in and had planned accordingly. The chance that that group of dinalfos was the only ones was too slim to consider.

The next few corridors and rooms proved my assumption to be correct. We came against not only the dinalfos but stalfos as well. They were another opponent I had hadn't had to deal with since Ganondorf and as the last of one group of them fell Sheik stepped up to kick the bones. "Where is she getting these?"

"Same place Ganondorf got them, I'm thinking," I replied and looked back to see Sheik's confusion. "The witch is Gerudo and was involved with him somehow. Her sisters were the witches that were corrupting the Spirit Temple so I'm sure she met him at some point. Also, when I was out in the far desert looking for her I ran into a good bit of lizalfos; I'm thinking that region is their home turf. You ever been out that way? Where the Seventh Temple used to be?"

He shook his head. "No, I was never sent there, whether with the prince or any of the times I was used as the mask. They said it had been built in a wasteland to deter people coming there for prophetic answers to their problems."

"Well, actually it is pretty much a wasteland around it, but once you get out that far there's a few tiny springs and scrub around. Little animals and such: it's actually a nicer part of the desert than the Gerudo live in, but I'm sure they need to live close to Hyrule Fields to get by."

"You mean so they can steal from the villages," he stated, no question in his voice.

I sighed. "Yes, but they're really not that bad. You're just seeing them as thieves and nothing more. They're a good people."

"Ganondorf-!" he began but I cut him off with a wave of my hand.

"They helped me stop Ganondorf. Their leader was captured and turned into a mindless ironclad for her rebellion against him. They were just as eager to see him gone as the rest of Hyrule."

"This witch is Gerudo, and so are the sisters of hers that spoiled the Spirit Temple," Sheik pointed out, not willing to give in on the point.

"Were," I corrected. "The sisters are dead and you can't condemn an entire race on the actions of four of their members."

"They're nothing but lawless thieves!" he snapped, his arms crossed over his chest.

Annoyed, I snapped back, "And occurring to them the Sheikah are nothing but enslaved assassins!" I didn't want to ask if Sheik had been sent out to "deal" with someone for the royal family, but that aspect of their race was well known.

The outrage on Sheik's face was apparent and it brought me a vicious sense of victory. "How dare you?!" He shouted back, stepping forward in his anger, but that I had ticked him off so much was a victory at this point.

"How dare you?!" I shouted back. "A people you don't know, you simply condemn without question, calling them nothing but worthless thieves!"

"It's what they are!"

"Well if we're just calling it like it is, then you can't argue what I said about the Sheikah!"

"I am not a slave!" he shouted as he jumped forward and grabbed the front of my red tunic roughly. "We are not mindless killers!"

"You can't even say my name!" I shouted back, not stepping away from his challenge at all. Our faces were scant inches apart. "You can't even bring yourself to be angry about being locking in that mask all that time! You even argued with me about getting you out! AT LEAST A GERUDO WOULDN'T SIT HAPPILY BY AS THAT WAS DONE TO THEM!" I shouted back at the top of my lungs.

"I DIDN'T KNOW THAT WOULD HAPPEN! I THOUGHT I WOULD DIE!" he screamed back. We both had completely forgotten about the Fire Temple, our frustrations and bottled up rage getting the better of us.

"THAT DOESN'T MEAN YOU CAN'T BE ANGRY THAT IT HAPPENED. THEY WORE YOU LIKE CLOTHES!!"

"OF COURSE I WAS ANGRY!!" he raged back, his fists trembling as they clenched my tunic. "I WAS ALONE AND FORGOTTEN WITHOUT EVEN A NAME!! HE DIDN'T EVEN GIVE ME A NAME BEFORE HE HAD THEM MAKE ME A MASK!! I WAS DYING FOR HIM AND I WASN'T EVEN SIGNULAR TO HIM THEN!! I WAS JUST A TOY FOR THE RYOAL FAMILY TO USE TO GET AWAY WITH HORRIBLE THINGS!!" He shoved me away from him and in my shock at his words I fell backwards to the ground. "I'M NOT A MURDEROUS SLAVE!!"

"…Of course you're not, and neither are the Gerudo honorless thieves," I said, matter-of-factly and he turned from me, his hands holding his head. "Sheik..." I began as I climbed back to my feet. On one hand I hated that I had drawn up a wound like that, but on the other I was relieved to hear him voice his outrage.

He shook his head furiously at my calling his "name" and I tentatively came up behind him and gripped his shoulder again (half afraid that he'd punch me in the face). "I didn't..."

He shook his head again, but was still silent as he tried to rein himself back in. Under my hand I felt some of the tension leave him though, and that was all the indication I needed before stepping in front of him and wrapping my arms around him once more.

He tried to protest, but only half-heartedly and after a few seconds of squirming he pressed his face into my neck and began to openly weep. The hands that he had been about his head fell to my shoulders. He held on like he would fall back into the snowy prison if he let go. His desperate sobs echoed off the bare stone of the room, but we had doors between us and the rest of the temple so I wasn't concerned about anything attacking us just then. If our shouts hadn't drawn them, his cries wouldn't.

Gone was the solemn formality and practiced control that was the norm for him. Instead, his soft voice seemed childlike through his teary sobs and broken pleads of "...I didn't... ...alone... ...I didn't want... ...I just... ...I..."

I hushed him and ran one of my hands over his hair as the other was wound around his shoulders. It was over now for him; he was free of his prison, though some of his last words boiled quietly within me. "I WAS DYING FOR HIM AND I WASN'T EVEN SIGNULAR TO HIM THEN!! I WAS JUST A TOY FOR THE ROYAL FAMILY TO USE TO GET AWAY WITH HORRIBLE THINGS!!" I suddenly wanted badly the ability to walk back in time once more and this time to murder the monster that Sheik had served in life. I also wanted to know what uses Zelda's ancestors had put the mask to before her.

I had assumed that his mask had collected dust unless the royal family needed to escape or hide from attackers, but what he said opened up a whole new use that I had not even considered. What had he been used to do over the years? I held him tightly and did my best to sooth away his hurt. I wasn't sure how long it took, but in the end, Sheik quieted though this time didn't pull back.

I was more than content to hold him for as long as he wanted, so I made no move to end the contact either. Instead, I said in a low voice. "I promise you, when this is over, you'll have your name and your face."

He shook his head against my neck. "You can't promise that," he said and I felt his lips move against my skin as he did.

"Yes I can; trust me. When we're through with this, you won't just be any 'Sheik'." I almost told him that I was his charge and that he was already "singular" to me, but thankfully I stopped myself. I didn't want him stepping in front of me to protect me, not through this. When we were done with the witch there would be time to explain things and adjust to the change in a non-life threatening situation. But still... "If this goes bad, if I get killed stopping the witch, you tell Zelda I said that."

"You won't-" he started but I stopped him.

"I'm not planning on it, but I still could. This woman seems better prepared against me than even Ganondorf was. If I have to die to stop her, you tell Zelda what I said."

"I couldn't... it's her choice."

"It's my choice for her to know what I said. Can you do that for me?"

He nodded finally and pulled back from me to wipe at his eyes. "I will. I'm sorry I still call you 'Hero'. I know it annoys you," he said as he tried to straighten himself again.

"Don't worry about it. We'll have time to argue over it when this is done, right?"

He nodded and though he was keeping his face ducked away from mine, I thought I caught a slight smile. "True. How far as we from the temple's heart?"

"Not a lot, though I don't even know if that's where she is. The little crystal of Nayru wasn't in the heart of the Water Temple, after all, though I have no idea how I would reach the molten center of Death Crater."

He nodded and, finally feeling re-centered, he straightened up. "I'm ready to continue."

"Alright, but we're going to talk about all that when we're done," I said, and there was no room for argument...

"That's not necessary." ... though he tried.

"Yes it is. You're my friend and from what I've heard, friends don't just let stuff like that go."

He ducked head and nodded weakly, clearly not wanting to go over any of it again. Still, that nod was enough and we continued our trek through the Fire Temple towards the inner core where Volvagia once was and the witch hopefully waited.

---

We reached the large red door that led into Volvagia's lair and I looked back to him. "Ready?" I asked with a smirk before pushing it open. Within was the vast chamber I remembered from my childhood.

Inside was a large platform ringed with boiling lava, and even the platform itself had patches of molten lava on it here and there. In the center, was the old witch. Her back was turned to us at first, her attention on a magical window suspended behind her, but as the door swung shut behind us, she turned. A crooked, malicious smile curved over her leathery face at the sight of us. "My, my... the goddesses' Hero arrives at last. And you even brought a little Sheikah slave to tag along after you," she said in a laughing voice and I leapt across the gap with a shout.

After the fight Sheik and I had just hours previous, her last words goaded me into a rageful charge. She was expecting that, though, and struck me hard with a blast of brilliant energy before she lifted off the ground to hover high above. I was thrown to the ground and dimly I heard Sheik cry out for me, but there was no time to worry about that. It grew darker around her and a second blast came down at me. This time though, I rolled clear and leapt back up to my feet. "You can't win, Blessed of Farore!" she cackled and the darkness gathered around her once more to send another white ball of energy at me, but this time reflexes won over logic.

This I knew, this I remembered and instead of second guessing myself I lowered my shield and swiped my sword at the ball of energy as it came close. As I did, it was reflected back at the unsuspecting witch and she screamed furiously as she was consumed in the crackling energy. It was the same spell that Ganondorf had wielded in my childhood and I wasted no time in charging at her as she fell back to the ground. I slashed once, twice, but before I could land a third she threw me back with a concussive blast.

_'Stupid...'_ I admonished myself. I knew to watch for that, didn't I? I was just getting back to my feet when something whizzed past my head and I turned to see the witch's dark energy knock Sheik's dagger away harmlessly. "Sheik, no!" I shouted back to him, but it was too late. She sent another of the balls of light at him and he was a hair too slow to avoid it.

With a sharp cry, he was thrown dangerously close to the edge of the platform. The brilliant energy danced across him like a bolt of electricity and I shot an arrow of light at the woman. It did her no harm while she was shielded by this energy, but it caught her attention.

"Oh, Ho! Trying to use your old tricks are you? Ha!" she shouted and sent a massive blast at me that was similar to Ganondorfs but faster than his. I had no time to strike her as she summoned it and could only brace myself behind my shield and hope that it blocked the majority of the damage. I think it did, but that didn't mean I came out of it unharmed. Battered and cut, I glanced over at Sheik who was giving the witch Rova an odd look, almost like he was trying to hear something.

I got back to my feet in time to send a ball of light back at the old woman. This time she was ready as well and sent it back to me once more. We repeated this game a few times before she missed and was caught by the energy again. She fought to maintain her height, though, so I shot another one of the light arrows at her. This one hit home and she screamed before falling to the cracked stone platform below.

Wasting no time, I charged her once more and leapt to bring my sword down on her in the killing blow, but as I did, I heard Sheik shout from behind me. "No! Stop!" Too startled to argue, I kept my sword up as I fell and tried to brace myself with my shield hand as I did.

It didn't work very well.

I slammed into the old witch and then bounced off to hit the hard stone in a lump. With a groan I drug myself back to my feet. Sheik rushed forward as I did.

"There's an illusion on her!" he shouted as he grabbed at her.

She shrieked at the attempt and tried to fend him off with her spindly hands but my previous attacks had left her battered and bleeding from many deep gouges.

"Hold her!" he shouted and I did so, holding her thin wrists so Sheik could place his hands on her face.

"Filth! Sheikah slave! Don't touch me, you royal puppet! Faceless monstrosity!" she screamed and spat, but it didn't deter Sheik. His fingers pressed deeply into the sides of the old woman's face and whispered a soft chant reminiscent of the one he'd used at the door. Unlike before, though, no door opened this time but rather the old woman's whole form shifted and shimmered and with a great pull he yanked something from off her face. Now Sheik had in his hands a rather formless mask with a bloody thumbprint on its forehead and where the witch had been, still grasped in my hands and bloody from the battle... was Malon.

I gasped as she slumped in my grip and I was quick to wrap my arms around her protectively. "Malon?! Malon, please, I'm so sorry. I didn't know," I pleaded as I brushed her blood-streaked hair from her face.

"Link...?" she said weakly and looked around dazedly. "What...? What happened?" she asked softly and groaned as the pain reached her.

"You were kidnapped and taken prisoner by an evil witch," Sheik explained softly. "Stay still and I will bind your wounds. Everything will be alright now."

She looked to me for verification and despite my aching guilt, I forced a reassuring smile on my face and nodded. "He's good at it, don't worry. He's a friend of mine," I added as Sheik unwound the wrap over his hair to start binding the wounds that I had made across her small body.

True to his word, Sheik wrapped her injuries well while she clung to me. It seemed wrong that I, her attacker, was the one giving comfort to her, but to tell her the truth just now would accomplish nothing. Especially as I myself didn't understand it. What was that weird mask that Sheik had pulled off of her?

As he worked, I spoke softly and comfortingly to her, promising her that I'd get her out of here and that everything would be fine. Unable to do much, I cleaned any of the blood splatters from her face and laid my cheek against her forehead. The miserable witch had some how left Malon in her place for me to unwittingly kill.

When Sheik was done, he tapped my shoulder and I raised my head from her. "I will put you to sleep, Miss, so that when you wake next you'll be safe at home." Without waiting for confirmation, he pressed his fingertips to her temples and murmured something softly. As he did, her brown eyes slid shut and she went still in my arms.

"The mask, it made her a copy of the witch," he finally explained as he drew out the mask once more. "Her blood," he said as he pointed to the thumbprint. "I barely saw the illusion it was so well made."

"She left Malon in her stead so that if I reached this place and killed her it would break my will to keep perusing the real witch," I said as I laid her down carefully. It wouldn't have stopped me, but after the witch Rova was dead... I don't know what I would have done.

"Hero," Sheik said and pointed over my shoulder.

I turned and saw what had caught his eye: the window the fake witch had been looking through. As I stood to walk over to it, I saw why it had been placed there. I could already feel the heat pouring out of it, even through the Goron fabric and the searing light within made me blink a moment till I was accustomed to it. The scene through the window was of a vast, domed room in which the ceiling was nothing but raging, roiling lava held aloft by some unseen hand and feeding this boiling mass was a cone of lava spewing upwards to the ceiling from a tiny glowing point of red. There was Din's crystal and the source of the lava of Death Mountain... and swimming through the air around it was an enormous fiery creature that brought back memories of Volvagia.

Tentatively I reached my hand out and saw that it passed through the magical window without resistance. I then looked back to Sheik. "Looks like we found our way to the crystal."

---

With Malon sleeping soundly in the Fire Temple's central chamber, we leapt through the window into the heart of the volcano. Inside, the heat was crushing and it took me a moment to steady myself on my feet. I looked over to see Sheik drawing his red cloak tightly in an attempt to fend off the assaulting heat. Unfortunately, we didn't have much time to ready ourselves as the great serpentine creature turned its head to see us and hissed in a great jet of steam.

When it did, I realized that I had seen this creature as well in the witch's home. This was the tiny fire snake that had been held in the brass cage. The old woman had planned well and with that thought I tumbled away and led the burning monster towards me.

It approached with its long mouth wide. I took aim with an arrow and summoned up the enchantment the Gerudo had taught me. It flared with soothing coldness and when I fired it into its face, the creature bucked angrily, clawing at it's face to dislodge the arrow and the crust of ice it was spreading. Unwilling to give it the chance, I fired again, and again. I could feel my energy waning with each one I fired, (especially after firing off a few of the powerful light arrows at Malon) but I didn't let up. I shot the arrows down the length of its body and eventually the ice was too much for it to remain aloft and it fell to the ground with a great crash.

It wasn't willing to go easily, and even though the ice was obviously deeply painful for it, it continued to snap and thrash. Every time I tried to get close enough to take a swing at it, it would swing its head at me, striking wildly. I was dancing around it, trying to find a way to get at it when I saw Sheik approaching from behind it stealthily with his daggers drawn. My first reflex was to tell him to get clear of it, but I stopped myself.

This could work.

I jumped closer to the beast only to roll back before it could reach me. Brandishing my sword as I stood back up, I had the fire snake's undivided attention. When it took a desperate lunge for me, Sheik took the opportunity its extension provided to jump up onto its partially frozen neck. The moment his feet hit its scaly hide, unfortunately, the snake knew something was up.

It made an attempt to crane its head around to get at him, but when it did, I fired another icy arrow at its throat and jumped forward to get its attention again. It was happy to oblige and I was barely able to jump away before its long fangs skewered me. On the beast's head, Sheik was hanging on tightly to the ridge of horns that protected its neck. The moment its attention had turned back to me, he drove one of his daggers deeply into it's thinly scaled neck. It cried out in a violent jet of steam and fire... which wasn't much fun for someone standing in front of it.

With a startled yelp, I dove to the side and had to stamp my boots out once I had. When I looked up, I saw that the monster was yet again trying to reach Sheik. Worse yet, the ice around its head was thawing, causing its skin to start to burn again where Sheik stood. Though I was just about at the end of my reserves, I fired yet another freezing arrow at its skull. In a flash, the flames that had been threatening Sheik were killed.

Though it screamed at the arrow, it let out a piecing wail as Sheik's dagger bit home again. Regardless of my sapped strength, I pushed myself to swipe at the fire snake's head and refocus its attention on me. It did turn to me again, but this time I was too drained to move before it's long teeth found my leg.

I cried out for a moment before I stabbed my sword into its snout, forcing it to release me. Sheik also did his part by stabbing it again and from my spot on the ground I saw that a steady stream of boiling blood was pouring out of the creature's neck. Sheik almost had it; I just had to keep going a bit longer.

With a groan I pulled myself back to my feet and readied to play another game of cat and mouse with the monster but I saw there was a bigger problem. Obviously the fire serpent had realized it was near death as well and had redoubled its efforts. I heard Sheik shout out as it bucked and roared causing its natural fire to kick back up. Sheik was barely holding on and soon the flames would burn him to the bone if he remained.

Drained to the point that standing was difficult, I steadied myself as well as I could and took aim with my bow once more. I drew up the spell through force of will alone and with shaking hands I fired. I watched as the icy arrow flew to land squarely behind its head, right below were Sheik was. I saw the ice climb up and around the horn ridge before everything was swallowed by blackness.

To be continued.


	13. Chapter 12

Author's Notes: Wow, did I get popular?! Lots of people to thank this time. Thanks Albel Nox, fireflyofearth, Lamika, GloriousBright, FlamingDoritos, ElementalGoddess, noperfect917, Meg, Pieling, Eisenkrähe, Venks, Cap'n BlackRose, Kai-chan Akiyama, and Soriku-video-gamer.

An extra thanks to ElementalGoddess for that huge review. It's not often I get a review of that size. I'm glad you liked the Fierce Diety's line so much. It's actually one of my favorites in the whole fic.

On my update rate, have no fears. There will be a fresh chapter every Tuesday. Speaking of which, here's this week's chapter. 

Chapter 12

I awoke to the drumming sound of rain and for a moment I thought I was back in Sheik's old room in the Sheikah village, but my first thought was that it was too soft... then too wet... then... then I blinked and found myself staring at a large section of red... Suddenly my senses returned to me and I sat up. "Sheik?!"

"I'm here, Hero," came his soft voice to my right and I turned to find him sitting near by with Malon sleeping between us. I looked around to find that we were just outside the Sheikah entrance to the Fire Temple. Our two red cloaks tied up over our heads formed a nice little shelter against the rain.

"What happened? Did you kill the fire snake?"

"Yes. Thanks to your ice magic, I was able to deliver the killing blow. ...I didn't realize that your spells were so draining on you," he confessed.

"They usually aren't, but after so much they get to be. So the crystal went back to normal?"

He nodded. "Yes, just as the other did, only this one calmed and the stream of lava running from it narrowed to a fine thread. You can hear that the mountain has returned to normal, even if you can't see it from here," he said and when I thought about it I could tell the difference plainly. This close to the mountain it was perfectly quiet again. "I carried you out of the temple after you collapsed and then went back for the girl. I was just contemplating whether I should try to carry you back to the village. I didn't know when you would wake."

"Sorry. How long was I out?"

"Over half a day."

"Wow. Sorry. I've never drained myself to the point where I'd pass out. Thanks for getting us out of there."

He inclined his head in reply and then rummaged through the pack to hand me some food.

"Thanks," I said again and as I started to eat I looked down at Malon. Her wounds were well wrapped but I could see the small spots of blood coming through to tell of the wounds I had foolishly inflicted. I idly reached out to brush my hand over her cheek and I didn't look up from her to ask Sheik, "Will she be alright until we can get to Kakariko?"

"I believe so, Hero, though transporting her will be problematic given that we only have cloaks for us. While the eruptions have stopped and the sky will clear of the volcanic poisons with time, at the moment the rain is as toxic as before."

I nodded and tried to think of someway to tuck her under mine as I carried her but it was iffy.

"I have been considering it," he continued. "...And I think the only solution is for us to wrap her in one cloak while one of us carries her to my village, then that one return with the cloak for the other. Once we are all in the village, you will be able to take my cloak to shield her and I will remain in the village until you can return for me."

My brows drew closer together as I puzzled that out, still watching her gentle breathing. It sounded like the best solution though I didn't want to leave Sheik behind. "No..." I trailed off. "It would take me upwards of four days to get to you and then back to the fields. The witch is somewhere out there and she knows by now that we've undone her work in the fountain and the volcano. Whatever else she has planned, she's probably working double time at it. Four days is more than we can afford."

He was silent in his acceptance of that and if he nodded I didn't see it as I was still transfixed by the damage I had wrought to little Malon. I wondered if her eyes would be quite so wide and innocent after this... and if she'd forgive me when I confessed the true source of her injuries. She was one of the only friends I had; the idea of loosing her was suffocating. So much so I was having trouble finding a solution to this problem.

"Did you want to try to make it to the village before night?" Sheik asked quietly and for the first time I looked up at him, blinking as if roused from a dream.

"What? Oh... Um..." I trailed off as I looked up at the sky. With the heavy clouds that blotted out everything it was hard to tell but the dimming light suggested that if I wanted to do that we should do it now. "Alright. It won't do to sleep here. Um..." I trailed off again and looked around for some magical solution to the problem of getting all three of us back with only two cloaks. I bemoaned the memory of the extra cloth we had just left behind instead of taking it.

"You take her with my cloak," Sheik said as he stood and began to work at the rope that held up the cloaks above us. "I will wait out the night behind the doorway to the temple. It's too late for you to come back and get me tonight."

Again I looked back to him, though this time he was the one looking away. It was the most pragmatic answer, but again it would entail leaving him behind and then going back to get him later. The only option I was seeing was that I would wrap her in my cloak and simply bear the rain till we reached the village. It would burn like hell, but not be fatal. I could probably make it all the way back to Kakariko like that, especially since the "trail" was well under tree cover.

My eyes passed over the door to the Fire Temple and I thought about how long it must have taken Sheik to carry not only Malon (who to be honest was rather waif-ish) but also myself along with my pack. I was sure the time it had taken me to recover from draining myself with spells was more than needed by him to recover from carrying us. I was about to suggest that I go unprotected when my thoughts wound back to my spells... and I realized I was an idiot.

Well, maybe not an idiot, as my idea might still prove useless. "Lemme try something," I said and Sheik turned back to see me close my eyes and concentrate on a magic that I rarely used. With a quick inhale and exhale I thrust my hand upwards and a soft blue glow covered me. I felt the hit to my energy again, but the rest had restored me to the point where this wouldn't slow me. With a quick prayer for luck, I stepped outside of the shelter and held my hands out.

"Nothing," I said back to him. "Not a drop gets through. Gods I'm intelligent," I commented with a self-depreciating smirk. I even caught a slight smile in Sheik's eyes as he shook his head at me.

"How long can you hold that?"

"Not sure," I confessed. "I never used it against evil rain. It usually lasts as long as it takes for something to beat it off of me, but I don't know what the rain will do. ...So... lets hurry," I said quickly and worked to pull down the shelter as well in a way that would keep the rain from falling on Malon.

Once he and she were covered securely, I hoisted her up into my arms and we started to hurry for the village. Rested and hurried by the unknown of how long my shield spell would last, we made good time back to the village. It was dark when we reached it but Sheik knew the streets well. He led us back to his old home easily and soon we were settled in for the night.

I even had enough power left to light a new fire and the shield was still up when I went to sleep. As I drifted off, I drew Malon close to me, as if I could shield her from the unkind world... as if my blade had not caused the wounds she bore.

---

When I woke the next day the shield was gone, but my reserves had returned so resummoning it before we left was easy. With nothing directly attacking it, the shield lasted until I slept and the next day and a half was a blur of worry and hurrying through the rain. I spoke only when spoken to and that was only once when Sheik asked me if I wanted to use a shelter he saw for the night. Besides that I was stone, lost in my guilt for Malon as she grew paler by the moment. When we reached Hyrule Field I nearly wept with relief and though my arms ached from carrying her, I rushed with renewed strength.

Up the stairs I hurried, not aware of whether Sheik was following me or not. My only thoughts were for Malon and thankfully I hadn't taken a few steps into the small village when I was seen. In a flash people were rushing towards me with frantic questions. "Please! Take her to the healer!" I gasped as a large man that I couldn't remember the name of took her.

"It's alright, child," an older woman reassured me as I fell to my knees. "He will. You look like you could use a visit to her yourself," she said but I shook my head.

"No, I'm fine. She's the only one that's injured."

"You have burns on you son, and not just from this frightful rain."

Blinking through my exhaustion I raised a shaking arm to see the remains of the burns from the witch's spells, the fire snake, and the bite that it had given me was well bound but still there. In my desperation to get her to safety I had completely forgotten that I was injured. "I..."

"He's delirious from exhaustion and worry for the girl," I heard Sheik say behind me and I turned to see him grab my arm to help me up. "He absolutely needs to see the healer as well."

I allowed Sheik to tug me up but the sudden upward motion was too much and suddenly I was falling into darkness, and my grip on Sheik was no anchor against it.

---

"...es, I believe so," I heard someone dimly say as the darkness receded.

"Poor dear, he... ...th" another voice replied and I tried to shake away the underwater feeling I was stuck in.

"...ll be fine n... ...ond of... ...e had him ...ly worried," The first voice said and I was able to identify it as Sheik.

"I'm sure. She was i... errible state," the other (a woman I now realized though I didn't think I knew her). "Thankfully she got h...n time. That rain is a nightmare."

With a struggle I was able to finally open my eyes and stubbornly I tried to push myself upright despite the searing pain that was tearing through my arms. I hated being like this and I wanted to hear about Malon, though, from what I had caught she was all right.

"Well, now that the eruptions have stopped, the rain should clear."

"Thank the goddesses for that," the old woman said with a sigh. "And they've gotten the water flowing again as well. I've been praying my thanks to them for their protection since the water returned to the river and now the mountain is righted as well."

At hearing this I swallowed. Sheik saw me as "The Hero". I didn't think he was likely to let others see me as just some kid who braved the rains, and the last thing I wanted was to be praised by anyone. So when I heard him say, "Yes. They've some how protected us from this disaster," I sighed with relief and let myself fall back into the bed. Silently I thanked Sheik for that. Being forgotten was better than being blindly adored.

I turned onto my side to look out a window to my left. It was dark outside, but the drumming on the slate roof above told me the rain was still falling furiously. "I'm sure the rain will be stopped soon as well," he'd said and it was good to hear no doubt in his voice. My confidence wasn't as sturdy after the Fire Temple. Of all the mistakes that I had ever made, I had never nearly killed a friend. If Sheik hadn't been there...

Regardless of Malon, if not for him I'd never have been able to defeat the fire snake. At that thought I grimaced slightly. As if I'd been the one that had defeated it... My ice wounded it, subdued it, but it would have broken free in the end. It was Sheik who had leapt onto the monster's back and braved the fire to kill it. All I had done was run interference for him.

It was a demoralizing thought and combined with the knowledge that somewhere near by, perhaps in the next room, Malon was recovering from wounds I'd dealt her…? I wanted to crawl beneath the bed and leave the rain to someone else to fix. it seemed the safest option for other people.

Sheik.

He'd been on the monster's back I remembered with a start and shot up in the bed (fast enough to make the room spin no less). He'd probably been burned worse than I was, and I'd paid no mind. I'd just charged on after he had toiled alone to get Malon and myself out of the temple. With my head in my hands, I tried to think back to him, but I'd been so consumed by my guilt I had barely noticed he was there. I let out a groan and I ducked my head further down, my fingers clenching on the hair on the back of my head. The motion made my arms hurt even worse than they were already. It felt like they'd snap at any moment.

I would apologize, I thought determinedly and tried to drag myself from the bed. I'd check on him, apologize, and be sure the healer had made him rest as well. My feet met the floor and I paused a second for the world to settle into place before I pushed myself up. For a moment, I thought I would loose consciousness again, but I kept the encroaching blackness at bay and made my way to the door. Thankfully there was furniture about to use as support and I opened the bedroom door to peer out.

"Oh, my goodness!" said the woman but at the moment I couldn't see her from the blinding light that poured in at me.

"Link!" I heard Sheik shout and soon he was blocking the light so I could focus on his covered face.

"Sheik," I mumbled as he opened the door the rest of the way to wrap a supporting arm around my back. "Are you alright?"

"You're not the one to be asking that of anyone," he admonished gently, but I shook my head as he guided me back to the bed.

"You were burned in there, too. And the witch... are you okay? Did they take care of you?" Sheik was selfless and I didn't put it past him to refuse care if it took away from Malon or myself.

"I'm fine. I promise," he swore and put me back into the bed. "Now you need to rest."

"The rain-" I began but Sheik shook his head as he pressed me to lie back down.

"You're in no condition, H-" he said but thankfully I stopped him before he called me "Hero" in front of the woman.

"You need to rest, too," I pointed out. He had done more than I had after all, but again he shook his head.

"No, you were the one that carried the girl the entire way. I only had to keep up with you."

I blinked and finally let him push me down. I hadn't thought about that and I let out a groan as the pain in my battered arms reared up again. "So you're alright?" I asked again, catching his arm in my hand despite the ache.

He paused, caught off guard by my insistence and for a moment his hand laid over mine before he removed mine from his arm. "Yes. I'm fine. I swear. I've rested well and been seen by the healer. Don't worry for me, just rest."

I finally listened to him and let my eyes fall shut again, welcoming the blissful escape from my burning limbs.

---

When I woke next there was light filtering through the drawn curtains and I sat up with a groan. Though I was still achy, I was feeling a thousand times better than I had when I'd last been awake. A wide stretch caused a series of joints to crack back into place and, with that done, I dropped my feet once again to the floor to make my way to the door.

Beyond I found a little kitchen and sitting room. Though there was no sign of Sheik, the woman was there, sitting by the fire with her knitting. "Oh, good morning, dear. You look a mite better."

"I feel enormously better. Thank you for letting me use the room."

"Don't mention it," she insisted as she put her knitting down. "Let me get you some food. I've got some roast and potatoes on the stove to keep warm."

At that news my stomach returned to life and I nodded quickly. "Yes, thank you. I'm staving."

"Well, I would think so. You've been asleep almost an entire day," she said as she pulled down a plate for me and put a large helping of both on it. "I'm sorry if it's a bit dry. We haven't much water, even with the river returned and it has to be kept for drinking only."

"That's quite alright. I understand." Ravenous, I dug into the meal without a second glance. She poured me a glass of weak wine (no doubt to spare the water more) and I thanked her again. It probably was horridly dry, but at that moment I couldn't tell. Starved as I was, I barely registered anything beyond that it was food. "Where's Sheik?" I asked, more than aware that he was absent.

"I'm not sure," she answered. "He left this morning. Said he was going for a walk."

I frowned as I tucked back into my meal. It made sense that he would want to walk around and get his bearings all on his own, but it seemed like a very long time for him to be gone. When he wasn't back after I finished my meal, I went for my cloak. I told the woman that I was off to look for him but she called after me. "Oh, your girlfriend was taken away by her father this morning."

"What?" I asked, stepping back into the house to look back at her.

"Malon was her name? Her father came for her."

"Ah," I said and nodded. "Good. I'm sure she'll be happier there." With that said, I headed out into the rain.

It wasn't that surprising that she'd think we were dating what with me stumbling in half dead from carrying her the entire way here. It had been true once, but that was a long time ago. I was just happy to have had her friendship for as long as I had. I couldn't help but wonder how welcoming the woman would be if she'd known that I'd been the one that had wounded Malon.

Though it was still an hour or so before sunset (or so I guessed beneath the black clouds), everyone had been driven from the streets by the poisonous rain. I looked both ways once I had stepped down from the woman's porch, but unfortunately, Sheik wasn't standing conveniently near by. With a sigh, I drew the cloak tighter and started through the streets of the village for some sign of the Sheikah.

Down the streets I wandered, weaving between the many homes and few little shops, but still I saw no sign of him and was quickly becoming worried. Where in Kakariko could he have gone? The village itself hadn't been that old so surely there was nothing in it he could have any memories of, right? As I passed the potion woman's shop, she stepped out to lock the door behind her.

"Oh, hello there. Are you feeling better?" she asked and I nodded.

"Yes, thank you, very much."

"Don't mention it. You've been a loyal customer for years and years. I'd be a fool to just let you die," she said with a laugh in her voice.

I smiled back and nodded. "I don't suppose you'd know, but was there anything here before this village was founded?"

"Um... I think there was a guard station for the defense of the city back during the old wars."

"Is there anything left from that?" I asked again. Surely there had to be something that would draw Sheik. If his hometown was any indication, it would be something he remembered.

"Well..." she trailed off as she looked around her. "I think the soldiers were buried in the graveyard. I know there are a bunch of head stones towards the back that are very old."

"Thanks," I said and then rushed back down the way I had come and down another street towards the graveyard. Soldiers were kind of similar to the Sheikah, maybe that was the connection.

The graveyard was dim in the evening rain but after a bit, I wove my way back to the rear where the graves were more worn and less tended to. I went to the right when I passed below the hidden alcove to the Shadow Temple and made my way into the area of the worst care. It was there, off to the one side, that I saw the splash of red that was Sheik's cloak.

Quieted by the solemn place, I approached him slowly. He was crouched down before a certain tombstone and, when I neared, I saw he was pulling away at the over growth that had swallowed it. With a glance around at the other tombs, I couldn't help but think it was a lost cause. There seemed to be nothing but weeds in this place and there hadn't been anything but them for many, many years. Still, he cut away at the burrs and vines to try and clear away the tomb of someone named "Gavin Roums". I was standing over his shoulder and he still hadn't noticed me, but I had noticed that in his efforts his fingers had become red and burned by the flat curtains of rain.

"Sheik..." I said softly and he started, wheeling around with the dagger he'd been using, ready to defend himself, but that didn't surprise me. He was a trained warrior and I probably would have done the same thing if startled as he was. What did catch my attention was how red and teary his eyes were. "Sheik?"

"Hero," he answered, quickly lowing his face to conceal it. "I didn't hear you approach. I apologize." He stood up in a hurry to conceal what he'd been doing, but my worry was for his hands and what had worked him up this much. Who was Gavin Roums?

"It's alright, but you've gotten your hands burned," I stepped up close so that no water would fall on his hand as I drew it back out to inspect the raw looking skin. "We'll have to see if the potions brewer has something for this."

"I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking," he said in a rush as he drew his hand away from mine. "Are you ready to continue on after the witch?" He moved from the grave to walk back to towards the town.

"You don't have to apologize I was just saying. We should wait another day to head out, rest and fix up your hand, especially since its getting dark. I came out to find you because I was worried," I insisted but the wall that had been around him before we reached his village was back again with a vengeance.

"I won't wander away again. I didn't mean to concern you. Shall we return to the village?"

"Who was he?" I pressed, nodding my head back at the tombstone though Sheik was facing away. "Roums."

"No one," he answered a little too quickly and I was annoyed by the resistance I was meeting. Everything had seemed fine after our fight in the Fire Temple. He'd opened up again and finally admitted that he was angry about being shut in the mask, as any sane person would be loyalty or not. But now...?

As he did his best not to look like he was hurrying from me, I glanced back at the grave. Just a simple stone marker, nothing elaborate, nothing befitting someone that might have worn Sheik's mask or been involved with the royalty who had, so who was he? Someone he'd known before the mask? A knot of discomfort tied itself in my chest, but I decided not to press any further. Maybe I'd gone too far in the temple and my subsequent ignoring of him had probably only worsened things.

I followed him down out of the graveyard and into the village. Still, the fact that he had never drawn back from me that way was hard to ignore.

---

We left the next day in the early hours of morning after many thanks to the kind woman who had out us up. The trek across Hyrule Field was long but the rain was far from clear enough to fetch Epona again. So, instead, we walked. It was a vastly less comfortable time than it had been on the way to the Fire Temple due to this new stony silence. When my few attempts at conversation met with only formal politeness I gave up. This wasn't like before, when he was just used to closing himself up. I was being shut out with purpose this time and it stung viciously.

With no other leads on where the witch might be, we were on our way to the Gerudo village. Perhaps the old woman would have remembered something and without a word of argument from Sheik, we set out on that course. Well, rather I set out on that course. Sheik had become a silent follower rather than a companion. It was like a switch had been thrown and I'd become The Hero of Time rather than a friend. I knew I wasn't "Link" yet to him, but for a brief time, I had been a friend.

With the weight of his formal distance laying on me, I had to push myself to keep placing one foot in front of the other through the rail-straight rain. Apparently I'd lost two friends in the Fire Temple, I thought bitterly, and just longed for the moment that I had the witch, Rova defeated. I'd give Sheik back to Zelda and ask her not to tell him that I'd ever possessed him in the first place. Zelda would call him "singular" and he'd have his face and name regardless. He'd be fine and happy in the palace, rid of me and my prying. He seemed as eager for that I was and I drew my cloak tighter against the cold that wasn't from the rain.

It took us an excruciatingly long day an a half to reach the Gerudo village and, after much arrow pointing and badge waving, they let me and Sheik into the village (though the women looked extremely unhappy abut Sheik). The animosity between the two people ran deep and there was little I could do beyond keeping them from attacking each other. As I headed up to see the old seer (Sheik trailing a few paces behind) Tabla, the woman from before, came up to walk beside me. "I thought the Sheikah were gone, Link, but it seems you have many tricks."

I shrugged. "He's the last one. He's been helping me stop the witch's work."

"The poisoned rain and the dry river were her doing then?" Tabla asked and I nodded. "I see. I guess the old hag's been busy huh?" she asked with a laugh and I was glad to hear some cheerfulness. "So..." she started in a lower tone. "What's with your human shadow?"

"Huh?" I assumed she meant Sheik but surely Sheik was doing what the Gerudo expected of him: silent obedience.

"He sure seems to be eyeing us something serious. You'd think I was about to eat you," she muttered with a wide smile and leaned in close to me till most of my vision was taken up with the large gem imbedded in her forehead and her positively predatory smile.

Surprised by this, I none-the-less didn't moved back and she tossed back her head in a riotous laugh that seemed to drive back the unnatural rain. "Oh, he didn't like that at all," she said from the side of her mouth with a smirk.

Again I was at a loss and glanced back at Sheik, but he looked as stony as he had been since we'd left the Fire Temple. I wanted to question her further but we'd reached Mother Fumagra's home and that took precedence over my curiosity.

As ever, the inside was warm and dark, though the rain outside had banished some of the dryness. Thankfully she had a fire burning brightly and I was happy to shake off the cloak and come near it. "Welcome, my child," she greeted me warmly. "And I see you bring another with you. It has been some time since a Sheikah walked our lands and longer still since one could do so freely," she commented though there was no malice in her old voice.

"He's been essential to my efforts against the witch, Rova, but we seem to have hit the end of my knowledge. We've broken her hold on the Zora's spring and the Goron's mountain, but where she's hidden with the Weathervane we can't guess. Tell me, is there somewhere that your people know about? Somewhere where the wind comes from?" While she had the Weathervane the pattern of the previous work led me to believe there was something of Farore's that was to the wind what the spring was to the water. While it could be anywhere, something told me it could be found in the Gerudo's lands... and the sudden contemplative look the old seer gave me said I was right.

"A strange thing for a Hylian to say, I think. We're mostly regarded as people the goddesses forgot, their disowned children."

"That's ridiculous. Your people guard the Spirit Temple and once a place called the Seventh Temple," I said quickly and by the old woman's smile, she hadn't thought I knew about either of those things.

"Are you the one who can tell us what became of Nabooru?" she asked and I blinked before smiling a bit.

"I was never sure what people thought had become of her or those like her, so I never asked."

"We remember only that she had to leave and that the reason was important, but when we try to remember why, it is hazy," she confessed.

"She became one of the sages, the sage of the Spirit Temple to be exact. She was fighting against the shadow you remember though she was captured by the Rova twins. After I released her, she became one of the sages."

The old woman smiled and nodded her thanks to me as she laid her face in her hands. "It is a relief to hear this," she said with a shaky voice. "No matter how hard I pressed I could not remember what had become of her." She raised her head back up and I watched her wipe away tears of relief. "She is my daughter and I have worried terribly for her. I thought perhaps the Shadow had killed her and the goddesses had taken the memory in an attempt to be kind."

"No, no, she's fine. She sits in the sacred realm with the other sages, I promise." I reached forward and patting her shoulder comfortingly. If she thought this, I suddenly worried what the others thought had become of their loved ones. Once I was finished, I would travel to speak with all of them, though I wasn't sure if they would believe me.

"Thank you. You're a comfort to this old woman. Yes, yes there is a place we know of that is the birth of the wind, but it guards itself well. If you have seen the Spirit Temple, then you know of the Haunted Wasteland. Farore's Mouth can be found there, but there is no path and no guides. None of us has seen it in many, many years. It is a forbidden place that is reserved for the birth of our kings and it's said that the mother of the son hears the goddess calling to her in order to find the place when she is near birth."

My eyes narrowed at this news. "So..." I trailed off, really not wanting to ask the question that now had to be asked. "So, only a woman who has born a king to the Gerudo has seen this place?"

"That's right," she replied and I wanted to hide or weep (both sounded like a grand idea). "I cannot guess how the old witch learned of its location as a king has not been born to us in a very long time, but she was a powerful creature indeed. Perhaps she found a way to pierce the twisting sands," she guessed but I was only half listening.

"I think I might know how she knows where it is..." I said with a sigh as I knew I wasn't wrong. It certainly explained why the twisted, old bat hated me and was trying to destroy Hyrule. It also gave her reason for killing her sisters, as they had failed utterly at keeping me from the Spirit Temple. I shook my head to myself as I stood. "I'll have to see if I can make my way to it, thank you."

"You're not thinking about heading out there now, are you?" Tabla asked.

"Well..." I began but Tabla stood as well and waved me quiet with a quick swipe.

"Its going to be dark soon, you idiot. We'll get you and your shadow a room where you can hole up for the night. I doubt the Mouth will be easier to find in the dark."

It was sound reasoning and I let her lead us off to a warm and dry room. Tomorrow we would have to wake early …to try our hand at killing Ganondorf's mother.

---

"Dear goddesses..." Sheik said once we were alone and I started at hearing his voice after so long of icy silence. "That can't mean..."

"She's his mother, yeah," I said with a weary voice as I dropped into a pile of seating pillows. The room was as warm and dry as I'd hoped and they'd set a pair of pitchers of clean water on the dresser for us. The Gerudo got their water from a deep spring that was fed directly by the Zora's Spring. While the rest of Hyrule was strangled for water, the Gerudo had the same meager but clear amount they'd always had. The windows were shut tight with colorful gauzy cloths hanging over them and along the walls. From my seat I looked around and suddenly the thought of the witch, Rova was gone from my mind.

There, at the side of the large room, draped with the same shimmering fabrics, was a bed. A single bed. We'd shared a blanket in Sheik's old room, but some how I had a feeling that he wouldn't be very thrilled with sleeping beside me again, even in such a large bed. The thought of that final rejection from the Sheikah made any concerns about Ganondorf's mother seem pointless.

"Hard to think such a creature had a mother," he commented, unaware of my dark thoughts and I had to force my voice not sound as broken as I was feeling.

"I didn't think of him having one either. He always... I don't know, seemed too much like myself. Both being blessed with a Triforce, and all. I guess I assumed he was just there, like me. Stupid I know but it never occurred to me."

"What do you mean, 'like you'?" he asked and I felt silly to think it was good to be hearing his voice again.

"I didn't know my mother. I was raised by the Kokiri, remember? None of them had parents so I didn't think about it. I guess I'm used to not thinking about parents for anyone, certainly not him. Come to think of it I don't know what became of Zelda's mother, I just know her father is King."

"I heard her and Lady Impa speaking about it once. I believe she died when Zelda was too young to remember. It was an illness."

"Ah," I said and nodded. That would explain why she's never spoken of her.

"You..." Sheik began but then stopped himself and got up. "Would you like some water?"

"Um, yeah." As he got up and poured two glasses I decided to try and coax him into more conversation. If I'd lost his friendship already, then what did I have to loose? "What... what were you going to say?"

"Nothing, Hero," he replied simply and the eyes that met mine were back to the stony nothingness.

For a second I held them, hoping for some flicker of the friendship that had been strengthening before... but when I failed to find it, I lowered my eyes defeated. "Alright." I just held the glass he'd given me, uninterested in drinking it anymore. The distance between us seemed more toxic than the rain outside. "You-" I forced myself to say as casually as possible. "You can take the bed, for tonight. I don't much want to leave these pillows," I tried to joke though it sounded flat to my ears.

"I couldn't-" he started but I shook my head and took a long gulp of the water.

"Well, then you can find your own pillows, cus these are mine." That said, I drained the rest of the glass and took off my weapons, and shoes. He didn't say anything more and I didn't wait for him to before settling in. After a moment of shifting the pillows, I fell into a fitful sleep.

---

Cold... Cold was the first thing I was aware of. I looked around myself and found that I was back on the snowy plane that had trapped Sheik. "Are we going to get the witch now?" I heard Sheik ask and I turned to find him standing behind me.

"I don't know where she is," I confessed and Sheik sighed.

"Then send me to find her, as I'm only a mindless assassin," he snapped and I took a step back.

"You're not!"

"That's what you said!" he shouted back and I shook my head furiously.

"That's not what I meant. I meant-"

"You meant what?" he demanded scornfully. "Perhaps you thought that a mindless assassin would make for an unargumentative whore."

"No!" I denied, not understanding where he was getting this.

"That's why you asked the princess to give me to you, isn't it? So I would belong to you and you could keep me, act out all those dreams?"

"No!" I pleaded now. "I just wanted you around, that's all! Please! I just... I just hoped we could be friends..."

He laughed harshly at that despite my broken pleads. "I've seen how your friends end up, _Hero_. I think not!"

At those words I looked down at myself and saw I was stained in blood... Malon's blood. "No... No, I didn't know it was her! It was a trick!"

"That you didn't bother to see through."

"I couldn't-!"

"Oh, that's right," he said venomously. "Yet another thing you can't do. From what I've seen I'm rather surprised you were able to defeat the Dark King at all."

"_Sheik..._"

"You could never replace Gavin..."

"What? Who...? Who...?" I tried but the world was dimming around me and I suddenly sat up with a gasp. "Who?!" I demanded of the night air.

I was in the room at the Gerudo village still, sitting up on the pillows I had slept on with Sheik sleeping in the bed off to the side. It had just been a nightmare but before I could feel good and dumb for getting so upset by it I heard Sheik say, "Gavin..."

I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and carefully crept over to the bed. Sheik muttered the name again and now that I was over him I saw he was crying in his sleep.

"Sheik...?" I whispered as I shook him gently.

"Gavin?" he said with a jump as I snapped him from sleep. "Oh. Oh, I'm sorry Hero. Did I...?" Sheik started but I stopped him.

"You were crying in your sleep and calling out for that person you were at the grave of," I explained and decided to ignore the latest cold shoulder from him to sit down on the bed beside him. "Who was he? Someone you knew before you were in the mask?"

"No, no," he replied quickly as he wiped his face off. "He was from long after I was put into the mask. He was just a solider for the kingdom. That's all."

"It didn't look like that was all, either just now or at the graveyard, so who was he?"

"Just a soldier!" he snapped and then reined himself in. "I'm sorry. He was no one, Hero," he insisted, the coldness returned. Sheik might as well have hung a sign over the bed that said "Go Away".

"Sorry. I'm not normally a prying person. I... I won't ask again." That said I went back to my pillows. "You don't have to be polite to me, you know. Not like I'm going to go to Zelda and tell on you. Soon you'll be rid of me, so cheer up." At that I couldn't keep the bitterness from my voice and I dropped back onto the pillows. "With how often I set foot in the castle, you're likely to not see me for years at a time or never if you make yourself scarce on the rare times I do show up." It wasn't like he was going to have to tolerate me much longer and honestly I'd rather face outright hostility than this silent treatment.

"I..." he began tentatively. "I didn't mean-"

I cut him off with a shout. "Oh, let it go!" I raged, jumping back up from my makeshift bed. "I'm sorry I went too far in the temple and I'm sorry I keep needing your help. I'm sorry I kept insisting that we be friends, but all you had to say was that you weren't interested! Would that have been so damn hard?! I'm sorry I'm not as perfect as the stained glass windows or the tapestries, but is that cause for this treatment?! Am I that distasteful?!" I'd surrendered everything I had to the cause of helping people and stopping one disaster after another. I had no family, no home, and no real friends to speak of. I had never complained, never argued my fate, and why wasn't that enough? Was it such a sin to have come up against a couple trials I needed help for? "I don't have anything but a horse and this is what I get for trying to get a friend? For needing help? Well, screw you!"

"You keep saying things like that but it's not true!" he snapped back. "Just a horse? I'm sure the girl wouldn't like to hear that. You make yourself out to be all alone but how much of it is true?"

"What girl?" I demanded, utterly lost.

"The one from the temple, Marion or something?"

I blinked. "Malon? What does she have to do with this?"

"She has to do with you painting yourself as some tragic, lone figure when you have some pretty girl waiting for you at home. You said how many times that you were always on your own? You-!" he tried to continue but I cut him off.

"Wait! Wait! You think I'm dating Malon?"

"You're denying it?" This seemed to anger him further. "Her father said-"

"What did he say? Listen I'm not dating her! I mean, I was, _once_. But that was years ago. It didn't work at all and we stayed friends... What did her father say?"

Sheik's temper seemed to ebb dramatically at that and he looked a little uncertain of himself. "He... He said that it was clear how much you cared for her... He said he figured that after that it wouldn't be long until he could call you family." As he went, he got back a good bit of his confidence in this, but I only groaned.

"He's never let go of the idea of us together. I was always at the ranch when I was younger because Epona came from there. We ... I tried for a short time to date her. It made sense at the time, but... Well you can't make things work just because you want them to, not things like that, right? I don't think she was as sure it was a failure as I was, but," I left off with a shrug. "We're not together, but she is still a friend.

"I'd go out of my mind carrying back anyone I'd hurt like that. I hardly see her anymore, even; I don't want to think about what kind of state I'd be in if I'd done that to you..." I trailed off in both embarrassment at the admission and fear at the very thought of Sheik bloody and battered at my feet.

He was very quiet for a while and I looked up at the sound of something shifting on the bed. He had drawn up a knee to his chest and was keeping his eyes from mine. "I'm very sorry. I... I shouldn't have gotten upset with you. I promise it had nothing to do with my helping you these last times. I was glad to have been needed."

I was relieved to hear that. While I didn't want his hero worship, I also didn't want him to think me a failure. "I'm sorry I didn't think about your injuries after the temple. I really am. I was just so scared she'd die and it would be my fault."

"It would have been the witch's fault, not yours. She wanted you to think it was your fault. You said yourself her goal was to break you with that," he pointed out and I could only numbly nod, not really believing it. "My people are raised to see through illusions and lies and even I almost missed it. You can't expect yourself to be able to in the heat of battle no less."

"I know, I know." It was the Sheikah that had made the mask of truth after all, so of course they were skilled in those sorts of things. "I was really lucky that you were there, for both for her and the snake." And it was for those reasons that I hadn't sent him to Zelda when I'd thought he'd grown sick of me. After the mountain and the spring, I was afraid that without him I wouldn't defeat the next trial.

"I don't know about that. I think I was a bit like that Fierce Deity for you. I was there so I was put to use, but if you hadn't had me, you would have found a way."

Like with the Fierce Deity and Majora, I wasn't so sure he was right but I decided to nod to be agreeable. "Well, you're much easier to get along with than he is."

My joke was rewarded with his soft laughter and I smiled with relief at the sound of it. "We should get a few more hours of sleep. The Haunted Wasteland isn't fun," I said.

"It doesn't sound like it... but there's no need for you to sleep on those pillows again," he pointed out.

"Ah, um, good point." At that, I came back over and took the side opposite of him. As I fell asleep a little voice pointed out that he'd been a bit too upset over me not telling him I had a girlfriend, but that thought was lost quickly to heavy sleep.

To be continued.


	14. Chapter 13

Author's Notes: I'm really sorry about the spelling issue last chapter. It is Gavin Roums, not Roams. I'll have that chapter reuploaded tonight. About Saiyou's comment about the Rova twins, I'm not really sure where it came from that the Twins were his mother (this isn't the first time I've heard it) but it's not in the game. All they say is "our dear Gannondorf" but no meantion of how they're connected to him.

As always thanks to my reviewers: Sisheo, Onigami Link, Cap'n BlackRose, Soriku-video-gamer, noperfect917, Eisenkraehe, Kai-chan Akiyama, drace-hunter, Venks, Saiyou-the-lover, FlamingDoritos, Liael, earthsfirefly, and kitkat78.

PS - As I posted this chapter I got another long and appreciated review from ElementalGoddess. Glad to hear you like my plots. We're winding up to the end so hopefully I'll continue to entertain you and everyone else. 

Chapter 13

The next morning I found myself comfortable in ways I rarely if ever was. Instead of the hard ground beneath a thin bedroll, I was sinking into a soft, Gerudo bed. My worn blanket was replaced with soft pillowy comforters over silken sheets of some fine Gerudo fabric. The air was softly scented with some exotic incense and as I shifted in my half-wakefulness I found a warm weight upon me.

A smile reached my face as I looked down. We had yet again sought each other out in our sleep. This time, though, instead of him simply being curled against me, he was draped across my chest with his head resting on my shoulder. I knew I should inch my way from him before he woke, but I couldn't resist carefully draping an arm about his shoulders. Who knew if I would ever be in this position again, intentional or accidental, so I couldn't bring myself to end this so soon. When he woke, I'd feign sleep.

For a bit longer I relished this comfort. I was more at ease like this than any other time I could remember. I could have stayed like that for days but as it happened fate conspired against me (or at least the Gerudo did) and the door to our room suddenly swung open.

The girl that had come in with a tray of breakfast got a humorous view of us both jumping up like a shot had gone off. I know it was humorous because once she had recovered from the surprise, she giggled. With a half-hearted attempt to cover her laughter behind the tray, she set it down on the small central table. She was still smiling when she dipped her head to us and left. I saw her sneak another peak at us as she pulled the door shut behind her.

We both did a wonderful job of not looking at each other as we inched back to our own sides of the bed. With awkward good mornings mumbled "sleepily" to one another we slipped from the bed. Though we both feigned that we'd been asleep the whole time, the fact that he had sat up as quickly as I had wasn't lost on me.

---

We reached the west gate to find the desert completely unlike I'd remembered it. The pounding rains had soaked every inch of the once dusty land making the scouring sand storms impossible. That is, they would have been had the wind been present to draw them up. "It's been like that since the eruptions began." Tabla explained as she stood beside me. "Technically the waste is safe now, but for some reason it's more frightening now that the wind has just died. We've not felt the slightest stir in the air since the Mountain started spewing out that black smoke."

When she said that I thought back and found I couldn't disagree with her. The rain had been a steady and very straight curtain of water the entire time. But why...? The poison in the air. What good would it do to fill the sky with toxic smoke when a breeze would drive it away in time? If the winds were restarted, the air and rain would return the normal far faster than simply waiting for the rain to wash it out.

"Well," I replied to her. "We'll see what we can do about getting it going again. Should make for a fun walk back though," I added with a chuckle.

"A fun ride," she corrected and waved at someone behind us. "I've taken the liberty of having a pair of our horses suited up to send with you. Should make your trip more enjoyable, I think."

Another Gerudo woman came up with a pair of dark horses that had been well covered in leather and armor so that they were shielded from the rain. We thanked her warmly for the horses as we climbed up and settled into the saddles. That done, we said our goodbyes before heading off across the eerily still wasteland.

We rode most of the day quietly, though it was a comfortable silence as opposed to what I'd been dealing with before. I wanted to know about Gavin but I was too happy to finally be on good terms with him again to push my luck.

"Any idea what we're looking for?" Sheik asked after we'd stopped for lunch.

"Not really, but I figure it'll be something note worthy. All the other placed have been tucked away and natural looking, not like a temple or such, but the crystal has to be in something, right? It wouldn't just be floating in the middle of the wasteland. Not only that, but there had to be somewhere around it that would be suitable for a woman to give birth in."

"So we're looking for some place with shelter enough for that. Maybe a formation of stone in the desert? Should we be looking along the rim of the desert or closer to the Sprit Temple?"

"No. Seems like it would be more out in the middle of the waste. It's like..." I trailed off to try and put the feeling into words. "It's like this place is the pond above the spring or the volcano above the lava. This is like an ocean of dry wind; it wouldn't be in the rock walls surrounding the ocean or anywhere else. It would be like the other two: in the middle."

With my thoughts on this, I looked around. The more I talked about it the clearer it became in my mind and I stood in my saddle to get a better view. It was here... somewhere... only unlike the others it wasn't clear where. It was in the middle of an enormous sea of sand and just wandering around until I ran into it wasn't a good option. There was no guide or convenient signpost pointing the way this time. The Gerudo flags that were now perfectly visible without the wind would lead me to the SpritTemple and out of the waste: the last thing we wanted.

"Can't you feel where it is?" he asked from where he'd stopped his own horse.

"Huh?" I asked intelligently, roused from my musings.

"You're Farore's, aren't you? Can't you feel something of it? The other's were of the other goddesses so I wouldn't expect you to feel much if anything, but..." he trailed off with a shrug.

He had a point, now that I thought of it. I was bound to Farore more than the other goddesses and hadn't the Mother Fumagra said that the crystal called Gerudo women to it? Without further questioning I let my eyes fall shut and tried to feel or hear something... Somewhere... somewhere near... was the crystal of Farore and if anyone should be able to find it, wouldn't I have even a better shot than a pregnant Gerudo woman?

As I listened, I became aware of a strange... "Note" was the wrong word for it, but it was the best I could find. It was like a wavering tuneless series of notes that were being played extremely off key. I winced at the uncomfortable sound and now that I had finally detected it I found it impossible to ignore.

"Hero...?" Sheik asked softly and I shook my head. I needed silence as I turned my head from side to side. I could hear it, but pin pointing it was a new challenge. It was soft and pervasive, refusing to be located by my searching ears. Without reopening my eyes I began to steer the horse this way and that. It was annoying that this horse wasn't Epona and thus required much more direction but with some prodding she went where I pulled. After a few minutes I started to get a direction. I don't know how long I rode like that, blindly steering through the rain soaked desert, when I heard Sheik suddenly gasp. "Hero!"

My eyes snapped open to see a great column of stone rising up out of the sand. "Well, I think that would be what we're looking for," I said as I drew my blade and spurred the horse onward.

---

It took an hour or so to reach the distant spire and when we did we saw how the witch had ruined _this_ sacred place. The "Mouth of Farore" was a hoop of stone that rested high above, at the top of great column of stone. There were no stairs to the top some fifty or more feet up, but the stone was rough and broken in ways that made climbing look like an easy task. Or rather it would have been had the witch not set one of her beasts to work here as well. Instead, the entire spire of stone was wrapped in dense cobwebs and the circle of stone was so covered that it was hard to tell that it was a hoop at all.

My eyes were focused on that when I heard Sheik say, "Look."

I looked to him and then followed his red eyes to see what had caught his attention at the base of the column. There I found a small alcove large enough for someone to bed down rather easily. As we neared it, I saw that there were simple carvings on the wall and it became apparent that this was where the Gerudo kings' mothers had come since the beginning to give birth.

This was where Ganondorf had been born.

I had always wondered how a person could become so cruel, so hungry for power that they would do the things he had. It was incomprehensible to me, even with all the villains I had been pit against in my life. Evil, actual evil, not misguidedness, but true evil never made sense to me. I suppose that's a good thing, and maybe to understand it is to join it, but at the same time it was and always would be aggravating in its own way. I dealt with evil so often and never got any closer to understanding it.

In the pounding rain, I stared at the place that his ill-fated life had begun for a moment after climbing down from my Gerudo horse. I then turned my eyes upwards. With a glance at Sheik, I began the slow and sticky journey up the column. Often we had to stop and cut away the webs, burn them, or pull each other free of them. These were far stronger webs than I had ever encountered and they burned poorly. I couldn't place it, but the strands of webbing just seemed wrong. "You're not afraid of spiders are you?" I asked once we were a third of the way up.

"No, thankfully. I wonder how large it will be."

I shrugged, rather sure it would be enormous, probably good at using its strange web as a weapon, and possibly poisonous. I inwardly groaned at how accustomed I was to things like this. At least a spider was something I had dealt with many times over. By now it was practically a formula, weird web or not.

"Why a spider though?" he wondered aloud and I looked back at him.

"Huh?"

Sheik shrugged before pulling himself up to the level I was on. "It's just... Well at the spring it was a fish that disrupted the water and a fire snake angered the crystal in the volcano. Why a spider for the wind's crystal?"

I blinked and tried to twist my mind around that question. I didn't usually question things like that. That was more Zelda's job: wondering why and how and all that. My job was to march in with weapons drawn, hack up the bad things, and try to make it out alive. I hadn't actually put any thought as to the spider at hand beyond trying to remember any spiders I might have seen at the witch's home... which I came up blank on. "I... I don't know. I didn't think about it."

Of course after that I _was_ thinking about it but who was I to know the mind of a mad, old woman? Hadn't I just been thinking that I didn't understand evil people? I was pretty sure evil liked spiders; I'd certainly had enough sent after me, hadn't I? Why not a spider? I was still puzzling this when I pulled myself up onto the top of the pillar of stone.

The rain fell heavily over us and the wide, web-coated platform. In the center of the vast platform the large hoop of stone was well covered in the webs. They were so dense I could barely see the small glow of green from within it, but the crystal was there, sealed up tightly under the layers of webbing. Only...

Swiftly, with my sword already drawn, I looked all around us but saw no sign of the spider I had expected. That was never a good sign. I saw Sheik climb up behind me out of the corner of my eye and was glad to see he had his weapons ready as well. Without a look to him, I stepped forward towards the hoop, ready for the fanged beast to jump out at any moment.

I had gotten within forty feet of it when I saw something moving across the webs on the hoop. Many somethings to be exact. Smallish and white. "Worms?" Sheik whispered beside me and I had to agree with his observation. Crawling across the webs were fat, white worms about three feet long and, frankly, disgusting.

It was then that I realized that Sheik had been right. "It isn't a spider," I warned a moment before an enormous moth flew up from the other side of the platform. It wasn't spider webs that covered the crystal and column, it was silk from worms.

A chrysalis I _had_ seen in the woman's home, though it had been only slightly larger than my fist at the time. Now the emerged moth had a wingspan more than seventy feet and once it had cleared the top of the platform it paused only a moment before a high pitched screech filled the air. Both Sheik and I had to cover our ears till it passed and when it did, the many worms suddenly left their task at the crystal to proceed towards us.

Wonderful.

One jumped at me and I was able to slice it down easily as I saw Sheik do the same. We were just starting to think this wouldn't be so bad when I saw the moth had landed on the hoop. Grounded, it suddenly beat its wings once with such force that I was knocked to my back. I didn't have time to see how Sheik was as the worms took the opportunity to leap onto me.

I kicked and stabbed at them until I could get a half solid swing at them. I felt pinchers dig into my arms, legs, and once into my side, but eventually I fought myself back to my feet. I quickly looked around to look for Sheik. He was still beating them off (apparently more had come up the side near him) and he was fighting a losing battle against them.

Unwilling to risk cutting him with my sword, I pulled out my hookshot to club them off of him. It worked rather well and soon I was pulling him back up to his feet. "Thanks," he said right before the moth beat its wings again.

This time I was half ready and so was Sheik. We held tight to each other and managed to keep our footing. In a flash I had redrawn my sword and that was good because the worms kept coming. When the moth let out another screech right before blasting us with another rush of rain soaked air, I shouted to Sheik, "This isn't working! Can you handle the worms!? I'm going to try and take out the big guy!"

He nodded. "I'll keep them back from you," he promised and I ran forward, darting through the writhing mass of worms.

The circle of stone that held the captured crystal was ten feet high and as I ran, I redrew my hookshot. Coming to a skidding stop, I fired up at the top of the silk covering and was yanked upwards in a flash. I started to pull myself up but quickly found that the moth didn't like my plan as much as Sheik did. Great mandibles snapped down at me and I barely twisted out of their grasp to pull myself up under its body.

Now that I was out of its reach, it tried to take off but I wasn't having any of that. Aiming at its carapace underbelly, I fired my hookshot again and was drawn up to hang from beneath it. It was about that point that I remembered we were around a hundred and fifty feet up. It wasn't a pleasant realization.

The moth let out a vicious cry at my attack and made a dramatic dive downwards in an attempt to dislodge me. It was a good attempt and it succeeded in ripping me from the hookshot's handle but thankfully it had dropped in such a steep dive that I was able to catch my hands in the coarse fur that covered its body. Desperate to shake me, it twisted and turned and flapped furiously, but I wasn't going to let go that easily, nor was I going to be content with just hanging on. Sheik was still on the column fighting off who knew how many worms. I had to get this moth dead and get back to him.

With gritted teeth, I used the creature's motions to work my way around to its back. I was deafened by its repeated screams but I didn't need to hear to attack. With my fists clenched onto the insect's fur in a death grip, I felt at the tiny spark in the back of my mind. A second later a sphere of fire expanded from my hands to engulf the creature in an inferno.

It flailed in the air, beating its smoldering wings violently to try and put out the flames, but I wasn't having any of it. With a shout I sent out another wave of fire and the nearly wingless moth fell from the sky with a pained cry.

By some miracle of the fates it slammed head first into the top of the silk covered spire and its body provided enough cushion that I was only dazed a moment from the impact. "Hero!" I heard Sheik cry out and I was just getting to my feet when I felt him yank me up. "By the heavens I thought you'd be killed when I saw it take off with you!" Whatever else he'd have said was cut off as he turned and swiped his dagger at a worm that leapt up to try and attack us.

"How did you do against the slimies?" I asked as I cut down another.

"Not bad," he said as he took out another two. "I think I've got most of them. They kept getting drawn off by the moth's screams. I think they're naturally drawn to it," Sheik explained as he stabbed another. "I saw quite a few leap off the side to try and reach the moth as it was trying to shake you."

"Oh, well that's convenient," I said and it was. In no time at all we had cleared away the last of the silk spinning slugs and soon I was cutting away the sticky strands that sealed the final crystal. As the last bits were yanked away, we saw it hovering weightlessly in the middle of the roughly cut stone hoop. It glowed softly of green but as I watched it was steadily becoming stronger. Though Sheik hung back, I couldn't help but reach out my hand to gently brush my fingertips across the smooth, hard surface.

Unlike Nayru's crystal, this one responded immediately to me and was suddenly burning brightly. With it, I was filled with a bone deep warmth that seeped into every inch of me. Whatever effect casting my fire had on me was gone as the light surrounded me and I was still blinking from it as I stepped back.

"Are you alright?" he asked hesitantly and I turned to smile a smile that I was rather sure was a bit drunken looking.

"Great. Perfect." In the happy haze the crystal of Farore instilled in me, I suddenly felt emboldened and awake like I had never been... Sheik looked amazing as the wind rushed around us, tossing his hair wildly like I hadn't seen since the Spirit Temple... and this time he wasn't about to vanish in a flash of light and he wasn't Zelda in disguise. I wasn't sure when the wind had restarted, and I didn't much care. A wild, recklessness had taken hold of me and nothing seemed impossible.

I took a step towards him and reached forward to draw him near, damn the consequences, but before I could do more than lock eyes with him, I heard the cry of a crow from behind me.

I snapped around, sword in my hand once more to see the massive crow land on the platform behind us. My eyes were drawn upwards for a moment as I saw the dense clouds beginning to break apart above the roiling wind of the waste. "You!" I heard a familiar voice screech and I looked back down as the witch Rova stood where the crow had been. "You miserable creature! How dare you?!"

At seeing the miserable, old woman all thoughts of Sheik's hair in the wind were gone. Instead they were replaced by an equally daring inclination to charge. So I did. With a rageful shout I ran at her full force, my sword drawn back ready to strike. I leapt at her but she threw up a force field of blackness and I was thrown back.

"Hero!" Sheik shouted as I tumbled to the ground and the old witch cackled brittley.

"Hero?! Nothing but a worthless piece of trash! A murderous piece of trash at that! Tell me, Hero, how is your lady friend from the ranch?" she asked gleefully and before I could respond Sheik had come to stand before me.

"Absolutely fine!" he proclaimed with a fire I had only heard before during our argument in the Fire Temple. "Your illusions were easy to see though, you hag!"

Her yellow eyes narrowed furiously at this and were fixed unwaveringly on Sheik. "You... Your miserable race is ill suited for speech. You'd do better panting at your master's side!" she shouted and sent a brilliant ball of energy at us. In a blink of an eye I stepped around him to try and send the spell back at her, but sadly when my blade met it, it passed cleanly through. I was slammed by the arcing energy and dropped to my knees. Thankfully Sheik had my back and sent a dagger at her that cut through her temporarily weakened shield to slice her arm.

"Foul things! Murderous wretch! I won't be stopped by you!" she screamed as she held a hand to her wounded arm.

"You're done!" I shouted back over the rushing wind and rain. "We've undone your holds on the other crystals; all you have left is the Weathervane! It's over!"

"Over? Over?!" she cried as the disorienting blackness expanded outward from her. "It's not over, you impudent child! You may have destroyed my son, wiped him from history even, but you will not destroy me! IT..." she screamed as she rose up into the air. "IS... _FAR... FROM... **OVER!!**_" A concussive blast left her and I summoned my magical shield just in time to protect both Sheik and myself from the impact. "You think you can protect people?! Well if I can't destroy this miserable kingdom through fire and poison then I will do it another way! Let us see how well Hyrule does without its crowned angel!" she cackled and I saw her pull the headband out of her sleeve.

"No!" I shouted, rushing towards her again but this time she simply blocked me with magic, laughing evilly. "I'm who stopped Ganondorf, I'm the one who wielded the sword that sealed him! I'm your target!" I shouted but she only grew more amused.

"Oh and so you are," she nearly purred. "But I know you, Hero. I could kill you, but the way to destroy you is to leave you alive with bloodied hands. No, Hero. I think a failure will do you good," she said with a laugh as she pulled the headband over her head. In a flash she was replaced by the crow and a few beats of her wings carried her away into the wind tossed rain.

---

Like a flash we were dashing down the spire, both of us desperate to reach the princess before the witch could kill her but even as I dropped down to the sandy ground I didn't have much hope. The witch didn't mean to use Zelda to lure me close, to get my Triforce, or to conquer. She meant to destroy me though her, to kill her only to leave me with the knowledge that she had died just because of me. Because I had not been able to kill the witch sooner.

The winds were at full force again but the horses had been well trained to deal with sand storms. With little direction, they took control to return us to the Gerudo village. The women cheered to see us and the restored wind but I had no time. With the horses at a break neck gallop we tore past them and through the streets. In a moment we were out of the village and pounding across the bridge. The rain stung my face as we went but I didn't care. Zelda was probably being attacked by the witch at that very moment. Would her magic be powerful enough to stand against her? Would she survive long enough to me to reach her? Would I tear through the palace to reach her only to find her bloody corpse?

This horse was a fine mare, she really was. Strong and fast, most could not ask for more, but Epona she wasn't. There was no intuitive connection between us, no understanding. I had to constantly spur the horse to keep her at a gallop and after only an excruciatingly short period of time, both my horse and Sheik's were slowing. The storm cloud filtered light had darkened to night and the horses were completely worthless as we passed through the Field of Hyrule.

I swore loudly as I dismounted the exhausted beast and began to continue on foot. I had walked it before, I could do it again. There was nothing else for it; I couldn't waste a moment.

"Hero! Hero, stop!" Sheik called out after me and rushed to grab my arm.

"What?! She's probably long since there, she's probably got Zelda now!" I shouted and tried to wrench myself free, but Sheik would not allow me to.

"That's right and what do you think you can accomplish by running yourself into the ground yet again?"

"She's-!"

"Yes! Yes, she's already there. She already has the princess and..." He paused a moment, not wanting to say the rest, but the hesitation vanished into the iron will I was so familiar with. "And if she's going to kill her without you being there she's already done it. The witch will either wait, to be sure you watch it, or it's already done."

I tried to deny this, my mouth opening to say... something, but again Sheik wouldn't budge.

"We will stop, we will let the horses rest, and then we will continue to the castle."

It made sense, it really did, but... "No. No, I can't!" I shouted as I yanked my arm from his grip to charge off towards the castle. I wasn't that far from the gates. A few hours.. five or six and... "I can't just sit here and wait while she's being killed! She isn't going to wait for me, I can't just-!"

"Stop!" Sheik shouted over me and I found my arms pinned to my sides as his wrapped around me tightly to keep me from breaking away again. "This is madness! Listen to yourself! You're going to do it again, drive yourself into the ground trying to reach her and you can't!" I tried to deny that but my mouth barely opened before he repeated, "You can't! You can't! You can't just make yourself appear there before the witch, it's not possible!" He shouted over the rain and the resistance dropped from me.

Tears were hot on my stinging face as I let my knees collapse under me, bringing us both down to the rain soaked ground. I just kept seeing every moment I had spent in the witch's presence replaying before my eyes, tracing out all the ways I could have defeated her. I found a thousand at least just in the first fight at her home, long before she had gone for Zelda... long before the Gorons lost their home... long before the Zora had been massacred and I had cut up Malon with my own sword. I folded under the weight of my guilt, my hands clasped over my bent head as if to hide from my failures.

I was dimly aware that Sheik's arms remained around me, comforting me as I wept in the rain. All I knew was that one more person would die (had probably already died) because of my mistakes. One more innocent corpse at my feet. I curled against him as if he could undo what I'd done, and he held me tightly.

"You've done everything you could have," he reassured me over the sound of the rain that drummed on our hoods. "You can't do everything... you can't save everyone. No one could expect that from you," he promised as he laid his hooded head on top of mine. "Not even you."

I clung to him in the rain as I tried to believe him. Desperate to believe him.

In a haze he pulled me up and lead me under a nearby tree whose dense leaves shielded me from most of the rain. I then watched him fetch the horses and put them under another tree before he pulled out the moderately sized tent the Gerudos had given us. I wanted to bolt again but I was too drained to even stand up from where I had slumped down against the truck of the tree. He had it up in what seemed like the blink of an eye and then came back to pull me into it.

Once inside, I stood unmoving as he pulled both of our cloaks off and then began to remove my pack, sword, and shield. With ease he got me out of my boots and after kicking off his own he pulled me over to the bedroll he had spread out. Without a word, he drew me close and laid with me through the night, driving back the demons of my guilt.

To be continued.


	15. Chapter 14

Author's Notes: First of all, thanks to Sisheo, Beatrisu, noperfect917, SmashCatchum, Mel E. B., Elnariel, Onigami Link, KateSkirmish, Eisenkraehe, and Kai-chan Akiyama. Glad I made your day, Sisheo and SmashCatchem, I think your review is the cutest one I've ever got. Lastly, sorry to hear about your grandfather, Kai-chan. I hope he's feeling better. 

Chapter 14

We rested for four or five hours. Enough for the horses to recover and my suffocating guilt to be at least suppressed for the time being. The spinning mania and intensity that had gripped me since touching Farore's crystal had given way to work; there was a task at hand and I had move. If Zelda was dead... If she was dead then that was something I couldn't change. Like Mikau, it was out of my hands, but the witch wasn't just after her and me, she wanted all of Hyrule to pay for forgetting Ganondorf. Murdering her own sisters was a good way to show me how serious she was about that.

Neither of us said a word about how we'd slept again, but this time it was more out of necessity than discomfort. This wasn't the time to worry about emotional things, but whether he felt anything at all or he'd only done it to help me, it was more than appreciated. Whatever happened after this, I'd needed the warmth he'd generously offered that night. Thanks to it, when we remounted our horses the next day I was re-centered and ready for combat.

By the time we saw the gates in the distance, my mind had been working swiftly. I kept remembering the way her energy had passed cleanly through my sword and honestly I felt foolish to have tried it in the first place. It had only worked against the fake witch because she was just that: a fake. Her magic was only a mock up of what the actual woman wielded... what Ganondorf had wielded and I knew what it would take to properly combat the vengeful woman. I didn't know if I could get what I needed but if I couldn't I had other tricks in my bag. Perhaps I'd make use of the Fierce Deity one last time.

I had planned on galloping the horses straight through the city but we had barely thundered across the bridge when they reared up with high whinnies. The normally stoic Gerudo horses were spooked as I'd never seen them and after trying to get them back under control for more than five minutes I decided it was a lost cause and jumped down. My feet hadn't touched the stone street before my steed was tearing away, back to the field. Sheik's did the same and I readied my blade and shield. "That was most definitely not a good sign."

He agreed with a silent nod and soon we were heading onwards into the market place at a cautionary jog instead of an outright run.

That turned out to be a good idea when we entered the square proper and saw what had so upset the animals. Gone was the bustle of the city and instead it was like I had stepped back into that dark time when Ganondorf had ruled the land. The doors were shut and the windows boarded up from the inside against the dozen or more redead that shambled across the streets and around the fountain. "By the Three..." I heard Sheik mumble and I looked back to see true terror in his normally strong eyes.

I grasped his arm and pushed him a few steps back just to be sure. "Sheik," I started, trying to get him to focus on me but still his eyes were locked on the walking corpses. Yet again, I tried to view the world through his eyes. Where I saw a group of very dangerous but slow opponents I had run around as a child, he saw the animated corpses of rotted people that had been dead so long you couldn't identify whether they'd been hylian, human, or otherwise. It was a shaking experience to force myself to see a fraction of what he was seeing and for once I was thankful for my natural jadedness.

"Sheik, look at me!" I demanded in a harsh whisper and finally he complied. "They're not very bright and they're blind."

"But..." he began, pointing a shaking finger and I knew he was looking at their dark eye sockets but I shook my head.

"I know and when they sense prey those eyes will light up, but I promise you they can't see you. I've dealt with these things since I was a kid; I know them well. I had to cross a desert of them to get the mask for that old man so he would get you out of your mask. They can't see but they can hear. They're also extremely slow, but they have ways around that. If they hear someone nearby they let out a scream that really packs a punch. It paralyses you for a few moments, really scrambles your brain so if it does happen: be prepared. The first time it happened to me I was so scared that when I finally came out of it I almost got grabbed by three of them."

I could see the fear in his eyes was only slightly diminished so I continued. "Look, they're really easy to avoid. They're more frightening than they are dangerous, I promise. We walk slowly, we keep a good bit of space between us and them, and if any of them take notice of us we run. If they shock us, we run as soon as we come out of it. They're slow, we're fast. It'll be fine."

He finally nodded and I saw him mentally pull himself together. With that and a finger to my lips to remind him to stay quiet, we began our careful walk through the square. Foot by foot we crept along, taking great pains to keep as much space between us and them as possible. I could tell Sheik was still frightened of them and I feared what he would do if caught by one of their screams, but he kept close to me and away from the monsters. We had made our way through most of the city when I waved Sheik to follow me to the right.

His expression told me that he had no idea why we were doing this, but he followed none-the-less. We had a close call as one of the beasts turned towards Sheik, but thankfully we were far enough away that when it screamed at Sheik, he was far from its grip. As the monster shambled slowly towards us, I had clamped my hands down around his arms as tightly as I could, pulling at him so that when he snapped out of it he wouldn't be able to crash blindly into another of the nearby creatures.

What I wasn't ready for was the sudden shout he let out when he did come to, or the way it suddenly drew the attention of all the redead around us. If I had shouted after I had been frozen the first time I don't remember, but now not only did I have to wrestle the panicking Sheikah but I also had to keep an eye on the others that were now approaching with brightly glowing eyes. "Sheik, its me!" I shouted at him and suddenly his wild looking eyes snapped to mine. "Run!" With that I grabbed his hand in mine and started to weave between them with the practiced method had used so many times before. I felt decrepid hands brush my clothes, but I had us moving too fast for them to get a grip.

Thankfully we weren't far from my goal and soon we were careening into the Temple of Time. The silence of the ancient temple was only broken by the sound of our panting as we leaned against the enormous doors. "That..." Sheik said shakily. "That... was..."

I swallowed heavily as I tried to catch my breath as well. "Yeah... I know... I said they... pack a punch..."

At that he let out a slightly hysterical laugh and I patted his shoulder comfortingly.

"Don't worry about it. Like I said, it shook me up the first time, too."

"I'd rather there wasn't a second," he replied and that time I had to laugh myself.

"Yeah. I did, too." Disturbing as it was, it had stopped bothering me rather fast and as before, I wondered if something was wrong with me. What kind of person could run past those beings, taking their screams over and over again, at the age of ten? I let out a sigh as I put the matter from my mind and pushed off from the door. "Well, lets get going."

As I started into the temple I heard Sheik slowly following after, our footsteps ringing loudly. "Are you...?" he asked quietly, the awe in his voice clear.

"Yup." With that casual response I stepped up the stairs at the right of the altar to stop before the wall that separated the main temple area from the Sacred Realm and my sword. There were no jewels on the altar to open the door and I had no time to collect them again, but perhaps I had good enough connections to bypass that.

"Um..." I trailed off as I looked up the wall. "I ah... I know this is locked for a reason," I said with a raised voice to be sure the goddesses heard me. "A good reason, too, but... But I need the sword again. You can lock the door again as soon as I've got the sword, but Ganondorf's mother is running around and she's trying to destroy Hyrule. Zelda may already be dead. Please." I stood there, staring up at the tall wall expectantly but it didn't move an inch.

After a minute I took a step back with a bitter look on my face. "Fine. I don't need it. I'll go without it. It would just make this easier," I spat as I turned.

"Hero...?" Sheik asked tentatively from where he had waited at the bottom of the stairs and I shook my head sharply at him.

"I'll be fine. It's just a tool," I said sharply as I strode past him, but as I did I heard the grinding sound of stone on stone. I turned to see the door sliding upwards and beyond it... my sword sat gleaming in the divine light.

I gave a glance upwards before heading in as if to say "point taken". Though it was powerful and imbued by the goddesses, the sword was only a tool, nothing else. I was the key, not the sword and if I wasn't enough without it, having it would do me no good.

I paused before my blade, thinking back to all the times I had pulled it from the stone, but this time I wouldn't be thrown through time. This time I wouldn't be going after Ganondorf either, but rather his insane mother. Still, enough of this was so similar that it was rather spooky. Lizalfos, dinalfos, and redead roamed the land while a dark magic wielder worked to destroy it, corrupt the elements, and kill Zelda and myself.

Before I drew the Master Sword, I looked back to see Sheik standing at the line that marked where the wall had been. His red eyes were wide in awe of being able to see the resting place of my sword and the place where the physical world crossed over into the Sacred Realm. "Come in," I said and he looked at me like I was out of my mind. "You were in here before when Zelda was wearing your mask," I reminded him, but he looked unconvinced.

"But... But that wasn't me... not really," he said softly.

"But it's you now, and I think after everything you've done for me and the royal family you're entitled to at least step inside."

"But..."

"I'm the Hero of Time, right?" I asked and he nodded. "Then I should think I would know if it was alright for you to come in here."

This seemed to finally mostly convince him and, carefully, he took a few steps into the room. Only three or four but I doubted I could get more from him. Without further delay, I grasped the handle of my sword. Like an old friend, it was comfortable in my hand and felt distantly warm as I closed my fingers around it. With a firm yank, I pulled the Master Sword free from the pedestal and held it high as the light in the room brightened around me.

Mentally I promised that I would return it as soon as I was done and as the light faded I swiped it through the air twice and sheathed it behind my back. Now, with my proper weapon finally back, I turned back to Sheik. "Well," I began with a grin. "Lets go charge off into certain death and all that."

---

We left the city to find the castle in chaos. Many guards lay dead outside and within, along with couriers and other royal servants. I kept hoping for some sound of fighting, but nothing reached my ears. The place seemed as dead as a tomb and we went through hallway upon hallway in search of the witch Rova or at least Zelda's body, but we found nothing. Not even a scrap of her dress.

Through the throne room, library, and even her personal chambers we searched but every time we found no sign of her. After circling down a long spiral staircase we found the door into the ballroom barred against us. I waved Sheik back silently and pressed my palms against the door and, with a nudge at the back of my mind, set it ablaze.

The old wood burned well in the stone frame and when it had weakened enough I kicked at it firmly. With a great cracking noise they swung inward and as one of them crashed down off of its hinges we both found ourselves facing the business ends of Hylian guards' spears. Oddly, the first thing that passed through my mind was, '_I don't have a pass for these people.'_

I was just deciding whether I could fight these guards (who were only doing their jobs and had no idea I was friend), when I heard someone yell out, "Stop, stop!" Immediately the guards did and I looked past them to see the king. He looked older than I had ever seen him and his royal vestments were torn and showed evidence that his path to this room had not been an easy one. While I knew the king of the Zora from my childhood, this man was relatively unknown to me: only a face I had glimpsed from the edges of a crowd or passing down a distant hallway. Though I was sure that Sheik would see things differently, the King of Hyrule was of no more interest than a random commoner in the city. My interest was Zelda and a sharp look around the room showed that she wasn't here either.

"You are the forest boy that the Princess favors so highly, aren't you?" he asked as he made his way through the guards to stand before me.

"Yeah," I replied and distantly I wondered if anyone had ever said anything so casual to the man. "Do you know where she is?"

"A Gerudo woman, she sieged the castle and sent out such monstrous beings. She was set against Zelda for some reason and my guards lost track of them. I've sent out three groups of soldiers to find either of them and none have returned."

I sighed heavily. At least that meant she was probably still within the castle, and that was a good sign that Zelda might still be alive. "Any idea where the witch might be waiting?" I asked and I was at a loss for why the guards all looked surprised when I asked this.

Even the King looked a little caught off guard but he looked to one of the guards. "You said she had been sighted last near the north tower?"

"Yes, my liege."

Zelda's father nodded sharply at that and then returned his gaze to mine. "That is all we know of her location."

"Alright. Keep yourself in here until I've got the witch taken care of. You're not her target so she probably won't bother you or your guards if you stay away from her." It was then that I realized why I was getting these looks. While most saw my sword and assumed I was accustomed to combat, the guards of the palace had always regarded me as some sort of a joke: the pretty boy that the Princess would summon from time to time. It had occurred to me long ago that they might assume Zelda just thought I looked good with a weapon on my back, but it was still funny to discover it was true.

"By the Three!" I heard the King gasp and my attention snapped back to him from his guards. "That..." he trailed off, and I followed his eyes downward to see what had him so transfixed: the sword in my hand.

I raised it up to better see it myself and for a brief moment I allowed myself to see it as the King and Sheik must. In their eyes it was a wondrous object of stories and fairytales, something only mentioned in ancient texts and tales of heroes yet to come. For a second I could almost see it like that, but then I was back seeing it with my own eyes and they only recognized it as my old friend. "Yeah," I replied again. "It is. Now keep your men in here and away from danger. I don't see a reason for more blood to be shed."

I didn't wait for the king to agree with me and I turned to stride from the room, only then seeing that Sheik had waited at the doorway for me. I supposed that telling a king how to manage his soldiers was a bit too much for him. Though I was glad the king and his soldiers didn't argue with me, I almost winced over it. They had seen me with the sword and thus my anonymity was over. Now instead of barely silenced snickers I would have to deal with awestruck hero worship whenever I came into the palace and probably the city around it. No doubt Karkariko would follow from there and so forth.

Termina was looking better all the time.

Back down another hallway we ran, towards the north tower. Like the one we had just come down, this wide tower drew us upwards on a spiraling staircase and images of my long climb up to Ganondorf were clear in my mind's eye. We were a half a level down from the doorway that led out onto the roof when I stopped and snatched Sheik's arm to bring him to a stop with me. "Hero?" he asked breathlessly and I nodded as I was equally winded.

"When we step out there... she's gonna be waiting and ready. Take a second and catch your breath. We're gonna need it."

He nodded and leaned against the wall.

After a minute or two, I looked back up from my boots. "Without this sword, or the bright arrows I can use, I don't know what you can do against the witch. I need you to get Zelda and get her to safety; once I know she's safe it'll make my job a lot easier." It would also be good to know that Sheik was safe, even with all help that he'd been to me in the past. He nodded his agreement, though I thought I caught a glimmer of argument in his eyes. With nothing else said, we headed out onto the tower.

---

The wind and rain whipped around me as I stepped out onto the tower. Clearly the air was happy to finally be free of the silken web that had bottled it up. It was so insistent that it was even pushing and pulling at the clouds above to break them apart from time to time and let clear sunlight flash across my vision. The light gray stone of the wide tower was well soaked by the continuous rain, and the light caused shimmers like tiny diamonds to dance across it for brief moments. The effect would have been dazzling after the darkness of the rain but some how it was lost on me at that time.

Directly across from me was Zelda, skin red from the rain, crumpled on the ground, with the witch standing behind her. As the door swung shut behind Sheik, Zelda's head raised up wearily. For a moment her pale eyes met mine before she shouted out hoarsely, "No! Link! Get out of- Ah!" Her warning was cut off when the witch struck her with her foot.

"Oh, he's not going anywhere, Sage!" she sneered as I stepped forward with my sword ready. "He's even brought his little Sheikah friend. How sweet, but I suppose that heroes never do what's in their self-interest. Still..." she trailed off wickedly as she stepped around the princess and with a flick of her hand a force field covered the doorway, effectively blocking our escape. "...I can't have you rushing her off to safety, now can I?"

"I was the one that fought him" I insisted. "She only helped cast the final spell. Your fight is with me!"

"Link, she's not-!" Zelda tried again but this time the witch struck her with a small ball of energy.

"Manners, manners, your majesty. I'm eager to hear him finish. I've waited years to learn how my son could possibly be killed by some forest child, and now all I hear of him is how he was _'sealed'_. My son still _lives?!_" she demanded through clenched teeth and I finally understood why she had left Zelda alive... and that I had made a _serious_ mistake before.

"He's sealed away by the Three," I replied steadily as I started to circle around her in an attempt draw her from Zelda. "There's nothing anyone can do about it."

"Oh, now there you're wrong," she said with a smile as she summoned a sphere of energy in her hand. "First, I will kill you, and then once I have your Triforce I'll use its power through your pretty sage to make her release him... and look! You've even brought the Master Sword. I should be able to strip the power from it to feed my efforts and make this all so much easier. Sheikah are supposed to be infused with magic as well," she pointed out in an amused tone. "Perhaps I'll be able to drain him as well."

That was more than enough of that. I charged her with a shout, sword drawn back, and my efforts won me her undivided attention once more.

With an annoyed screech she pushed off to hover high above us. Aloft, she threw the orb she had readied, but I was ready and equipped for her this time. Without missing a step in my furious rush, I swung at the orb and sent it straight back at her.

She wasn't as fast as Ganondorf and she screamed as the energy struck her, sending her tumbling to the ground. She hit just as I reached her and I slashed viciously at her once, twice, and I drew back for a third time but was thrown back by another one of her radial blasts. "Wretch!" she spat and lunged onto me with an evil looking, twisted dagger. It came within a quarter of an inch of my throat before she was wrenched backwards by Sheik's arm around her neck.

I tried to take the opportunity to land another blow on her but she quickly sent us both sprawling with another blast. "Think you can meddle in that which is beyond you?" she growled and I raised up a hand to fend her off only to find she wasn't there. Despite the pain, in a flash I was back up as I saw she was going for Sheik instead. He had been struck with some spell and was curled up against the agony of it. All I could think was _"Sheikah are supposed to be infused with magic as well..."_

"Leave him alone!" I shouted but before I could reach him a beam of white light snapped out past me to catch the old woman in the back.

As she cried out in pain (and released Sheik from whatever spell she'd had on him) I turned to see that Zelda had barely drug herself to her feet. The ray didn't last long, as her strength was as the limit, but it had given me the opening I needed to bring my blade down on her.

In the blink of an eye she had a force field up, but the injuries she had already taken combined with her age caused her shield to buckle and crack beneath my sword. The concussive blast she used to drive me back this time was weaker than it had been, but it was enough to turn me around and give an opening for the cruel, old woman. She slashed at me with her dagger while my back was turned.

I felt it bite into my skin, but not as deeply as it could have and I didn't have long to wonder why. I heard a clatter behind me and I spun around to see my hookshot roll across the ground. The Gerudo woman had stabbed me through my pack, but some how I doubted I'd need my hookshot and other possessions for this fight. The pack had bought me a bit of protection at least and I tumbled clear of her.

"Link!" Zelda shouted and I turned in time to catch the brilliant energy she was sending towards me and to my sword. Immediately the Master Sword began to glow and the witch Rova roared at the sight. "I have had enough of you two!" she shouted and I saw her hands fly upwards before slamming back down. As they did, I knew what was coming (Ganondorf had used it many times) and I knew that there was no blocking it. In a second, a beam of dark energy would shoot out from her hands and decimate anything it hit. Worse yet, only one of her hands was pointed at me, while the other was directed at Zelda. The only good side to this was that Sheik had gotten to his feet again and he was relatively near Zelda. With hope, he'd be able to get her clear.

I had just braced for the impact when I felt myself shoved brutally to the side. I hit the hard stone and heard twin screams. Quickly, I turned to see that Sheik had pushed _me_ clear, taking the blast himself. For a moment I was shocked that he'd done it, rather than shielding Zelda, but I didn't have long for that. As the blast ended they both collapsed to the floor and the witch turned to me.

In her fury though, she foolishly used her favorite ball of crackling energy against me and I was fast to send it back at her, tossing her brutally backwards. The witch Rova was weakened to the brink and when she fell she couldn't bring herself up any further than her hands and knees. "You're done, Rova," I told her. "You can't win this."

"Yes... Yes, I believe you're right about that... I can't win..." she trailed off with a grunt as she pushed her old body back up. "...but my _son can_," she ground out furiously as she turned, revealing that she had something clutched in her decrepit hands.

I took a step back reflexively before I realized what she had... then I wanted to bolt completely. There, grasped in her wizened, old, claw-like hands... were the broken pieces of Majora. The fragments began to glow brightly and so did the witch herself. "This... Such power! To think _you_ carried _this!_" she cried out with a mad cackle. "Broken: yes, but still over flowing with such energy! My son will rise again and tear you and this monstrous land _to PIECES!_" she screamed rapturously before the energy she wielded consumed her in a violent explosion.

It spread out in a flash and when I looked back I saw the old woman was gone. Where she had been standing was instead a dark portal. Within it: lay Ganondorf struggling against great chains. My focus was pulled from him as a ball of spinning and bouncing light danced into the portal, flashing purple, red, and yellow. I reached for it uselessly but it collided with Ganondorf and was absorbed into him in a burst of light. The glow didn't vanish but instead surrounded him and... to my horror... Ganondorf began to snap the chains that held him. Without another moment's hesitation, I leapt through the portal.

---

The gateway behind me was bright in comparison to the inky expanse that surrounded me. Beneath my feet was the pale stone disk of the sages and before me, was Ganondorf struggling against the last of the chains that bound him. I tried to reach him before he was completely free but that was in vain. I was almost within reach of him, but he burst the last one. The snapped chain swung at me and sent me tumbling to the ground roughly.

"My..." his deep voice rumbled as he stood. "What have we here? Back to save the day again, are we?" he asked with a chuckle.

"Something like that," I grumbled as I got up as well. When I did I took in the sight of him, and found that matters were far worse than they had been in my youth. Age had apparently not touched him in this void, but Majora had. His black armor had gained bright geometric patterns around the edges of purple and red, while the cape that draped over his shoulders had an intricate design that reminded me of the wall that had held the mask back in Termina. His eyes that had been yellow had been changed to Majora's: sliding from red to yellow with a green iris and blue to purple pupils.

I barely held back a hysterical laugh at the sight. As if they weren't bad enough on their own, now Ganondorf has some how been merged with Majora.

The change wasn't missed by Ganondorf either, and he took a moment to look at his gloves and armor. "And what is this...? This..." he trailed off and I watched him bring a hand to his temple as if shaking something off. My guess was that Majora didn't like playing second fiddle to anyone and was attempting a coup of sorts.

He gave his head a forceful shake before he refocused on me. "Curious... but I believe that both myself and my new friend are in agreement that you should die... NOW!" he shouted and a blast shot out to slam into my chest. It was unlike either of them had ever used before and I knew no way to defend myself from it.

I hadn't raised myself up further than my hands and knees before another blast crashed into me, sending me rolling across the hexagonal disk. Once more I tried to draw myself up with his rumbling laugh rolling over me. "I remember you being more troublesome, but maybe my new companion is making for an unfair advantage," he wondered before striking me again.

As I was thrown back again, I was willing to agree with him on that point. Honestly, even with my sword newly imbued, I had no idea how I was going to win against both him and Majora combined. I heard rather than saw him readying another one of the energy bolts and forced myself to tumble away.

This time I made it and as I jumped to my feet I heard a thump and a crash behind me. I snapped around to see that one of my empty bottles had fallen from my torn pack to shatter on the ground, but I didn't have to feel silly about jumping for very long. There, laying amongst the broken bits of glass, was the mask of the Fierce Deity. Without a moments hesitation (despite my trepidation at putting it on again) I snatched the mask up and donned it once more.

As if I had been plunged underwater, my vision swam and reality seemed to bend in a disconcerting but familiar way. My consciousness was fractured but unlike the other times, it didn't merge into one. Instead I heard an amused voice whisper in my mind, "Still alive is he? What a bother; I hope this friend of yours that he's joined with proves more interesting."

"Well, well..." Ganondorf said before I could respond to the Fierce Deity. "It seems you have some new tricks of your own. Let's see what they are!" he shouted as he sent another of the blasts at me.

Like two drops of water that had run together, my mind was yet again one and with a heady rush I spun away from the blast and threw down my fist to send a blast of dazzling fire outwards. Before I'd even straightened I was rewarded by a shout of pain from my enemy. I was barely suppressing a cheer as I lunged at him, bringing the Master Sword slamming down into him. Both parts of my mind were surprised that the Master Sword had remained instead of shifting to the Deity's helix blade. At least half of me was very familiar with it and the shield that had also stayed.

Ganondorf shouted out in pain at my blow, but I didn't let myself get cocky. In a moment I had rolled away and not a moment too soon, as Ganondorf slashed out, right where my head had been. His attack left him open for one more strike to his side, but after that I was thrown clear as he sent out a pulse of energy. I still thought that his mother's radial blast was worse, but Ganondorf's was good enough to send me back a good bit.

"Try your hand at this, Hero!" he shouted as he pointed his hand at me and sent a beam of many colored light.

I rolled away but the unusual beam didn't let up, rather it followed me as he turned to keep me in sight. I tried my best to keep clear of it but after a few moments I realized that wasn't going to work. Suddenly, I slammed to a stop with my shield raised, ready to catch the ray. I was gambling that the trick that had worked against his aunts would work against him and it paid off. The beam was reflected back at him.

With a shout he stumbled back and I rushed to attack him once more, but I wasn't fast enough. With Majora within him, Ganondorf's speed was greater than I expected and he tackled me roughly to the ground. A blade came up to my throat, but I managed to block it with the flat of my own sword. It was a fight to keep him back and I gritted my teeth as Ganondorf loomed over me, piercing me with those eyes of Majora. "You can't win this time..." he ground out through a malevolent grin. No matter how hard I fought, his blade was inching closer to my skin.

My mind was racing to find some way out of this, but I could find nothing. He was easily twice my size and all his weight was pinning me to the ground. It was all I could do to brace him away with one knee and slow his sword from reaching me. Failure seemed my only option when suddenly my awareness split again.

Swiftly I was loosing myself and regaining myself at the same time. The Fierce Deity was leaving though I couldn't understand how and his departure was robbing me of the extra strength he gave. Ganondorf's sword drew closer at a much faster rate and I was about to shout out when something rushed from me to Ganondorf.

The strange force knocked him back off of me and as I jumped to my feet I saw the force had been the Fierce Deity. With him, beyond where Ganondorf was standing up again, I saw the shadowy figure of Majora in the Fierce Deity's grasp. "What-?" Ganondorf began, turning to see the specters that were now battling, but I used the distraction to land a blow across his back.

He countered with a back swing that sliced me across the chest and I jumped backwards to evade his second sword.

"He's gone, Ganondorf. You have to face me just as you again," I informed him and he cast off his cloak with a scoff.

"I'm trembling at the thought," he drawled as he stepped forward to fight me blade to blade.

Forward, back, attack, block, jump, tumble, we danced about each other, exchanging blow for blow. As we did, the specters of the Fierce Deity and Majora battled as well, but their ghostly forms passed through us easily as they moved through and around us. Two mortal battles were being fought right on top of each other and more than once both Ganondorf and myself moved to block a blast or sword of the insubstantial pair.

I parried one of Ganondorf's swords before spinning around him to land a blow on his back when a sudden blast of light filled the Sacred Realm. I had no time to wonder about it, as Ganondorf turned to face me again. He drove me back with another powerful swing, and a faction of a second later he threw an orb of energy at me.

Acting on reflexes alone, I swung and the ball was bounced back to strike him squarely in the chest. Stunned by it, he took a stumbling step backwards but he didn't even get the chance to fall. In a flash I leapt forward and drove my blade through his chest.

He was bent over my sword and his yellow eyes met mine with undisguised shock. "You..."

"...have won," I finished for him and kicked him off my sword. He felt backwards to crash to the ground and chains came up from the stone hexagon we stood upon to snake around his weakly struggling form. Like vines, they wrapped around him till no part of him was visible and then they drug him down through the surface of the stone floor.

I stood there for I don't know how long, just staring at where he'd passed through. I was half expecting him to burst back up to attack again. The adrenaline was still thundering through my ears so I nearly leapt out of my skin when I heard a voice behind me ask, "Is the stone going to do tricks?"

With my sword raised before me I spun around to find myself face to face with... the Fierce Deity. "You. ...Where's Majora?" I asked as I looked around.

"Dead," he answered with a predatory grin. "No more masks, no more host forms, just the two of us again. It was unequaled!" The pleasure in his voice as he described it was almost vulgar. "I see your fight went well, also."

"Yeah," I replied with a slow nod. It was strange talking to him and I couldn't miss the way he was casually swinging his sword at his side. The way he moved, the way he looked at me… never was it clearer that this wasn't mortal, whatever it was. Everything about him was off and alien. "How did you get out of the mask?"

"Destroyed it," he answered off handedly. "I would have just died if I'd done it anywhere else, but I made a gamble that I could get away with it in here. Glad to see I was right," he said with a twisted grin.

"Same here. So... what are you going to do now? You're free of the mask to go and do... whatever it is that you do." I didn't want to say what I thought it was that he _did_, but he apparently wasn't the least bit uncomfortable about it.

"Kill things. Well... no. Murder is more Majora's style. Death and destruction and all that. I want battle. Lots of battles and the _best_," he answered almost lustfully. The way his eyes occasionally raked across me was easy to mistake as arousal, and maybe for him, it was. He had the hazy look of anticipated pleasure and his pulse seemed to quicken when he focused too long on me, but sex wasn't his goal. Violence, bloodshed, and combat were what he was craving and the realization was unnerving.

"Ah. Well... there is a lot of battles to be had, if you look... and you're free to... I guess." The idea of the Fierce Deity loose was more than a little disconcerting. He was definitely not something that was meant to roam freely in the world.

"I could..." he trailed off, suddenly looking thoughtful and wistful. "... but that's what got me put into the mask, wasn't it?" When I could only shrug (knowing nothing about his past) he continued to say, flatly, "It was. No. No, I think it wouldn't be long before someone or something locked me up again... but you...?" he trailed off and fixed me with another one of his hunter grins that was intense enough to make me take a step back.

He chuckled. "Now, now. While I do admit it's very... _tempting_ to fight you. What with you being a legendary Hero of Time and all that, it would surely be a worthwhile bit of fun, but a very brief bit of fun, regardless of how well it went," he finished disappointedly.

"So what do you want?" I asked warily.

"To tag along."

"Huh?"

He sighed at my denseness and inched closer. "You spend your existence bouncing from one mortal battle to another, traveling between worlds to do it even. I want to come along."

"How?"

"I'll return to the mask, of course, and you can just carry me around. Put me on when you reach a worthy battle and then take me back off. Just like in Termina ...only no burying me in the dirt this time, huh? I can't _tell_ you how boring it was just sitting there, wondering if you'd ever come back. I thought we made a good team."

I crossed my arms at his mock hurt tone. "You didn't want to leave last time, if I remember correctly. I don't want to end up getting swallowed up by you."

He made a dismissive sound at my accusation. "Oh, you're too touchy, I wasn't going to stay for good, I just thought your masked boy what's-his-name was going to fight me ...and I was curious (what with those interesting thoughts rolling around your head)." I went red at that and he just laughed. "Yeah, those thoughts right there."

I cleared my throat. "You can't go doing things like that whenever I put your mask on, alright?"

"Fine, fine," he said, holding his hands up in defeat. "I'll keep my hands and other appendages off of your boy and you'll provide me with fascinating battles. Deal?" he asked with an outstretched hand.

As much as I wanted to make an issue out of the "other appendages" remark, I nodded and shook on it.

Without releasing my hand, he gave me one last wolf's grin before fading from sight. I looked down at my hand to see that I now held the mask of the Fierce Deity. I hadn't even looked up from it before I found myself surrounded by light and it grew brighter and brighter till it blotted out everything... and I knew no more.

To be continued.


	16. Chapter 15

Author's Notes: First of all, I'd like to appologise for the massive delay in updating this. Fanfiction wouldn't let me upload anything till yesterday. I was planning on making a double post today, giving you both this chapter and the epilogue, but sadly the epilogue isn't ready. I'm extremely laid up with a cold and can't concentrate long enough to edit the last chapter. So, you'll have to wait till next week for the ending. Sorry.

As ever, thanks to my reviewers: Lamika, ElementalGoddess, meg, noperfect917, Karen, Onigami Link, Eisenkraehe, Liael, Kai-chan Akiyama, SmashCatchum, Cap'n BlackRose, and YamiGoddess. Two fun reviews came in from Elemental this week. Transmissions are fun, ne? In response to Elemental's remark about the goddesses, I wish I could take credit, but that's all Miyamoto. It's in Ocarina in the part about the Triforce. They don't say them all outright, but the images with the over voice makes it pretty clear, at least to me.

"Din, with her strong flaming arms, cultivated the land to create the earth. Nayru poured her wisdom onto the earth to give the spirit of law to the world. Farore's rich soul created all life forms who would uphold the law." It showed water when it was describing Nayru and a wind blew across a field when it was Farore's turn. Din's spell is Din's Fire, also Farore's spell (which I never used cus it was sissy crap) is called Wind of Farore.

Glad you liked the boss battle, though. Glad everyone liked the battle.

I got a Private Message from Kou-Kagerou. They had an idea about Roums from the Nintendo Power comics and they didn't want to tip off anyone else if they were right. I was gonna send Kou-Kagerou a message back but decided to answer here. I don't know if you're right or not, as I never got any of the comics. Maybe that's where the stuff about the Rova twins being Ganondorf's mothers came from. I just play the games.

Well this was going to be the last chapter, but I think I may be lynched if I stopped it where this chapter ends. Sooo... you guys get an epilogue that'll be up next Tuesday and then that's it.

Oh, and good to hear about your grandfather, Kai chan! 

Chapter 15

I woke slowly, finding my vision filled with white yet again and I rubbed at my eyes. Gradually I became aware that I wasn't still in the Sacred Realm, but rather I was staring up at the white ceiling of a brightly lit room. It took a moment to remember what had happened and I begin to piece together that I was probably in the palace. It was about that point that I remembered Zelda ...and Sheik! With a groan I pushed myself up as fast as I could.

"Hero!" I heard a familiar smooth voice say from my right. I turned to see Sheik hopping up from a chair beside the bed to push me back down.

"Sheik," I said as I let him guide me back to the pillow. "You're alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine. So is the princess Zelda," he reassured me, but I could see the shadows of bruises on him.

"You don't look fine," I pointed out and I saw a slight smile in his eyes.

"Well, I'm far better than you are, at least. You need to take it easy."

"How's Zelda? What happened?" I asked and I stretched out in the bed, causing quite a few weary joints to pop.

"She'll be alright. The burns that the rain caused are slow to heal but she'll be back to normal in time," he said and I let out a sigh of relief. "As for what happened, I was hoping you'd be able to answer that. When I woke you were gone and the Princess Zelda was collapsed. The shield that was blocking the stairs was gone so I got her out of the rain. I was about to carry her down to her majesty's father when suddenly there was a point of white light in the middle of the tower. When it faded, you were back but before I could reach you, you fell to the ground.

"You've been asleep for three days," he added, the concern clear in his voice and I gave him an apologetic smile.

"Sorry for worrying you." I could only imagine how worried I'd be had he just collapsed and refused to wake for days.

"You had this," he said and picked something up from the bed stand. When he held it out, I saw it was the Fierce Deity's mask. "Did you have to use it to stop her?" Though he was trying to sound neutral I could catch his displeasure and I better understood why he'd been so worried. His distrust of the Fierce Deity was well founded.

"No, I handled her alright, it was Ganondorf and Majora that gave me some issues."

"Ganondorf?" he asked with red wide eyes. "How?"

"His mother broke him free with the energy from the remains of Majora's mask. As a fun side effect, he was merged with Majora," I added with mock cheerfulness and he shook his head. I went over the battle and how it had all went. How I had used the Fierce Deity to combat the combined force of Ganondorf and Majora, and then how the Fierce Deity had gone on to battle Majora alone so I could have Ganondorf. He looked less than pleased with my agreement to bring the Fierce Deity along, but he didn't say anything. It was better than letting him roam about alone, I thought, and burying him in the dirt again seemed a little wrong. He was... twisted, but he _had_ helped.

Once I had finished, Sheik left for a moment to come back with a tray of beef stew and rolls. Hunger I hadn't felt until just then reared up and I eagerly shared the meal with Sheik. He was quiet as we ate, a bit too quiet, and I began to worry about what could be on his mind. Thankfully I didn't have long to wonder.

"...Why didn't you tell me... that the Princess Zelda had given me to you?" he asked quietly without looking up from his bowl.

"Oh. Well... I didn't want you doing anything foolish for me and, really, I figured you'd had enough shocks what with being brought out of the mask," I finished with a soft smile but Sheik hadn't looked up yet.

"I was... I thought I was still possessed by the royal family... I thought I would be cast out," he whispered.

"What?"

"I abandoned my charge," he admitted quickly, like tearing off a bandage.

"Of course you didn't-" I tried but he wouldn't let me.

"Yes, I did. When the witch struck out at you and the Princess. I could have reached her but I shielded you instead. I didn't know I was bound to you; I willfully put someone else above who I _believed_ I was to protect," he admitted shamefully and I pushed myself the rest of the way up to reach for him. "When I got you and the Princess down to his majesty I expected to be outcast for my negligence, but the Princess Zelda woke and said that you had asked that I be given to you. That I had obviously done my job well as you were alive and the enemy was gone."

As my hand settled on his shoulder he jerked away from me. "She was praising me and I had abandoned my post," he admitted with a shudder as he pressed his face into his hands.

"No, no," I started and gripped his shoulders tightly. "You didn't." He started to deny it but I wouldn't allow him. "No, listen. If you were still under the orders of Zelda what do you think she would rather you do? If I'd been knocked out I wouldn't have been able to defeat the witch and Zelda would have been killed. You did the right thing, either way."

"That isn't what I was thinking at the time," he said weakly and I shook my head.

"Don't. It doesn't matter. Everyone's fine and the bad guys are dead and banished. There's absolutely no reason to beat yourself up."

He nodded a little and seemed to take some comfort in that, but I could tell he was still wounded by what he'd done.

"Listen," I said. Finally he looked up at me, though I kind of wished he hadn't. It didn't make saying what I needed to say any easier. "Zelda knows the truth about you now, so if you'd like, I'll return you to the royal family. It's your choice." I saw something flicker in his eyes before he looked away.

"I'm sure it must be unusual for you to have someone along with you all the time. Now that the witch is gone-"

"No!" I said faster than I meant to. "I mean... I just meant that you'd been with them for so long. I didn't want you to just be following after me when you'd rather be somewhere else. It's... It's been nice having you around. Not just for the battles where you were pulling my rear out of the fire, either," I added with a self-depreciating smile. "It's been good to have someone to share meals with and such.

"If you want to stay here," I continued. "You can. I'm sure we'll see each other whenever I'm in the castle, but if you want to keep tagging along with me... you're very welcome." I gave him another smile, hoping he would want to stay with me, and got a returning smile and a nod.

"I would be honored to continue with you, Hero," he replied formally and I shook my head.

"I don't like honors and stuff. Would you be happy to come along with me?" I asked with my hand extended.

He laughed softly behind his mask and nodded as he took my hand. "Yes."

---

"It was quite a shock to learn that Sheik wasn't just a mask," Zelda said as we walked through the castle's garden. The rain had damaged the plants and flowers extensively, but Zelda was putting her magic to restoring them. Though they still looked wilted, it was clear that they were recovering bit by bit.

"Likewise," I replied. "I thought it was some kind of a strange illusion at first, or a dream. I had to see him a second time before I believed it."

She nodded as we made our way down one of the cobblestone paths. "That's what you were doing when you had to sleep on the floor of the palace's temple. You were speaking with him. Why didn't you tell me?"

I grimaced a bit at that. I'd been dreading that question and actually... now that I was here, I wasn't so sure why I hadn't. "I... Well I really got freaked out by the idea that I'd been wearing people, that he was locked up in there alone... I didn't have time for you to be freaked out about it," I said, though I wasn't very convinced.

"You didn't want to risk that I would say no, that I would ask for him back," she stated matter-of-factly and I ducked my head. "He means an awful lot to you for someone you've only known a couple weeks."

"Not really just a couple weeks. I mean... I hadn't talked to him before, but..." I trailed off and let out a sigh as I tried to sort out my thoughts in a way that didn't sound pathetic. "I saw him when you were wearing the mask. Even thought it was you pulling the strings it was still him I was seeing. I depended on him back then," I explained but she was shaking her head.

"It was I that you were depending on while I was wearing his appearance. I was the one coming to you and directing you to where you needed to be and teaching you to use the Ocarina," she said but now it was me that was shaking my head.

"No, you're not getting it. It didn't have anything to do with the advice you gave me. That was important, don't get me wrong. I couldn't have done it without you, but... When you wear his mask, it's not like a disguise. It's not your eyes with different coloring, it's his eyes and his eyes aren't anything like yours."

"How so?" she asked and I took a moment to try and find a way to word it.

"Well, I mean you're you. You're the Princess and all of that. You've been raised to be commanding and responsible: a leader. Sheik... he's more like me: just someone who was dealing with something he hadn't expected or wanted but was dealing with it all the same. He... he was like a friend in all of that. Does that make sense?" I asked and looked over to meet her eyes.

She regarded me for a good while before she finally spoke. "You've fallen in love with him." There was no question in her voice and I jumped at the statement.

"W-what? I- I didn't say that."

She smiled softly and raised her right hand to show me the faint triangle on her hand. "I'm not very easy to deceive," Zelda explained and I let out a sigh. It was pretty pointless with her, wasn't it? "Why haven't you given him his singularity, yet?"

"Huh? Oh. Well... Well, he was locked in that tent for how long? All alone? I figured that he had enough to adjust to without me just upending his whole world all at once."

She nodded and we walked through the recovering gardens quietly for a bit more. "Have you decided when you'll give him his name back?"

"Sort of. We'll see how things go. The Three knows he's more than earned it. He should have had it before he was locked into the mask."

"Yes," she agreed simply. "The sacrifice he made for my family... Sadly there have been many loyal Sheikah that didn't get the praise they strove for and deserved. You will take good care of him won't you?"

I nodded without hesitation and she smiled warmly at me. "I think you two will be very happy with each other."

"Thanks. I hope you're right."

---

Clocktown spread out before us in a riot of lights and color. Sheik jumped a little closer to me as a juggler spinning flaming batons danced past. "This place is insane," he said and I led him by a woman dancing with a sea of metal hoops spinning around her. "You say they do this every year?"

I nodded and replied loudly to get over the ruckus of the crowd, "Yeah. The festivities were a little ruined by Majora when I was here before. This is the first time I've been able to just enjoy it."

It had been almost two months since the witch was destroyed and Ganondorf resealed. We'd spent the time roaming around Termina mostly, as I was still being pointed out in Hyrule as the "Hero" and that was never a comfortable thing. Sheik wanted to check in on Hyrule every so often, but as time went on he seemed to settle more and more into my nomadic ways. As it was, we tended to pop back into Hyrule at least once every two weeks. Gradually he was also adjusting to my dislike of formality. This was evident as he threw a handful of popcorn at me.

We spent the evening trying our hand at some games and tasting almost everything that wasn't nailed down. I was amused by the fact that Sheik's interest in food had never faded and I had more than once used the lure of a good meal to talk him into following me into all sorts of strange places. After we had finished a pair of caramel apples, I waved him to follow me through the crowd to the center of town.

Above us rose the clock tower and though he seemed a bit hesitant, I managed to drag him within.

"I don't think we're supposed to be in here," he pointed out as he followed me up the stairs.

"Probably not, but when has that stopped me?" I asked with a smirk and he just sighed. It was a long climb but the view we were greeted with at the top balcony was more than worth it. The awed sigh I heard from him was a good reward for the climb.

He leaned over the railing to look all over the bright and noisy Festival of Time and I enjoyed the way the lights were cast over his face more than I did the actual festival. He was too busy with the activity below to notice me watching him for the longest time. When he did, I cleared my throat and redirected my eyes at the festival beneath us. "I, ah... brought you up here to talk to you a little privately."

"...Oh?"

"Yeah. ...Like I said back after the witch, I've been careful not to just throw things at you. After you were shut up in that tent for all that time.. Well what's the rush, I figured."

He nodded and cast his eyes over the bright lights. "Thank you, for that. I know I was angry at you for not telling me that the princess had given me to you, but you were right. It was strange enough to be back in the real world without that thrown on top of it."

"Good. I was afraid that I had screwed up on that one," I admitted with a slight laugh and Sheik smiled back under his mask.

"No, you were right."

"Thanks," I said and leaned back against the railing to watch one of the performers below start dancing with sparklers. The crowds continued to laugh and cheer below us as I let the moment wash over me. Several long minutes had passed before the silence was broken again.

Softly, so softly that I almost wasn't sure he'd said anything at all, he asked, "...Did you mean it?"

"What?" I asked and looked over to him again to see that he was looking pointedly away from me.

"I followed you. It was my duty to, of course," he added with a small voice. "...Did you mean it when you said that you were just waiting for me to adjust... before you gave me back my name and face?"

It felt like the floor had dropped out from underneath me. If he'd heard that, then... "...Yeah. I did," I responded steadier than I felt. "You've not only done so much more than anyone ever should for Zelda's family, but... But you were a life line to me back then, during Ganondorf's time."

"And... And they were my eyes you saw when the Princess Zelda was using my mask?" he asked as well, his voice almost a whisper.

"Yeah," I replied softly with a nod.

For a few moments longer he was quiet before I heard him say, "Gavin was a soldier. He was posted in the barracks where Kakariko is now."

It took me a moment to connect the name with the grave that Sheik had been clearing back in Kakariko. "Did you know him before you were put into the mask?"

"No. No, he was much after that. He never knew me, but he did know the young king at the time," he explained as he watched the people below. "I gather the king was unhappy with having to remain in the palace and he took to wearing me in order to go out and enjoy a few moments of freedom.

"Gavin was no one all. Not any better than a squad leader, but he was kind and funny. The king liked him a lot," Sheik continued and by his tone I couldn't miss that Sheik had liked him too. "He and the king... they were lovers for quite some years.

"He was a gentle man with a subtle sense of humor. The king wore me often to go and visit him."

The knot that had coiled in my chest tightened with each word. The ferocity of my jealousness was startling to me. "Did he know that it was the king?" I asked, and was impressed at how even my words were.

"No. The king couldn't tell him for so many reasons. Gavin never knew who he really was. ...I'm ashamed to admit it, ...but I looked forward to the times the king used me to steal away to him. I knew he wasn't mine but it was so easy to pretend... He used to say that my eyes were what had drawn him. 'I knew I loved you the moment I saw your eyes,' he said once... and I felt so foolish for being happy about that. What were eyes but a shape and combination of coloring? But... but it was true what you said about my eyes, when the Princess Zelda was using me? That they were still mine? The soul behind them was still mine?"

The knot within me crumpled and died like a strangled vine. That's why he was questioning me about this. He only wanted to hear that the guy he'd loved so long ago had really loved him back. It was crushing to think that he was in love with someone else and that was all he was looking for from me, but I nodded in response. "Yeah. They were nothing like Zelda's." I looked over at him again when I heard a shuddering sigh leave him.

"Thank you," he said shakily with his face in his hands. "I needed to hear that _so_ badly."

I pushed aside the broken thing inside me to step closer to him and brush a hand through his hair. "It's alright. You weren't being silly. ...It was your eyes he fell in love with." My own feelings were unfixable, but Sheik needed the comfort of knowing that he hadn't been just a prop to the guy he'd fallen in love with. After all, I knew very clearly how easy it was to fall in love with those deep eyes.

He took a step forward blindly to lay his head on my shoulder. "He died in a stupid skirmish, just some foolish thing that didn't even matter," he said, the tears heavy in his voice. "The king went to his funeral, as me. I was so grateful for that. To have felt his hand one last time before they lowered him into the ground. After that day the king never put me on again. ...I was all alone again," he wept heart-brokenly and I held him tightly as he cried silently against me.

Just then, I would have done anything to be able to conjure Gavin for him: to step back in time and some how make his deceased lover appear. Anything to make him happy. I couldn't imagine what it would feel like if Sheik were dead and gone.

"I'm sorry..." he said softly after his shoulders had stopped shaking. "You don't want to hear about Gavin."

"No, I do. Really. I asked about him, didn't I?" I asked with a smile and I reached up to brush the side of his face comfortingly. The way he leaned into the touch sent a slight shudder through me.

"...You meant the rest, ...too?" he asked tentatively and I saw the fear of rejection painted in his eyes. The broken bits inside of me started to reform a little, drawing back together as those ruby eyes refused to leave my own. There was so much wary hope in them, I couldn't help but see it.

"Every word," I replied and reached up to slowly pull his mask down to reveal the rest of his gentle face. His jaw was smooth and refined without looking weak and the small, faintly darker lips I had only glimpsed before were now plain to see. A blush slid over his high cheekbones and I reached up to brush a thumb across them. "What's your name?" I asked softly as the festival lights from below danced across his skin.

"Torsha," he answered just as quietly and I smiled.

"...Hello, Torsha."

"Hello, Link," he replied and when I leaned in to catch his lips in my own, he met me half way.

To be concluded.


	17. Epilogue

Author's Notes: Okay, here's the Epilogue. Ta DA! Thanks to everyone that reviewed: Beatrisu, Selene16, iredlk, Mel E. B., Kai-chan Akiyama, Pasht, Mimiru.hack, Onigami Link, drace-hunter, meg, SmashCatchum, and YamiGoddess. The praise was much loved and appreciated.

Sorry some people took the end of the last chapter to be a cliff hanger, I didn't mean it that way. It was just the end of that scene. -shrugs-

To respond to Meg: yes. Very proud.

To Pasht: I chose Lingering Fragments because the proper, old name for the transforming masks were "fragment masks" as they held a fragment of the person. In Sheik or Torsha's case, the fragment was his entire soul, instead of just an echo of it. Also, it refers to the lingering, fragmented memories that some people had of the time that Ganondorf ruled the land. Those fragments were what drove the witch to seek revenge on Link and Zelda.

To Kai-chan, I thought that Torsha was a boy's name from Russia (was sure I'd heard it before), but when I went to check I could only find it in one listing as a girl's name without any meaning or nationality listed. I also found that it's a river in India and an actress on IMDB has the name, too. I dunno, I thought it was Russian, but feel free to use it.

About the King and Gavin: no, the King, like his predecessors and descendants had no idea that the mask was anything but a mask. That particular young king was actually further back in Zelda's line, more like a great, great grandfather.

The Weathervane I forgot to mention in the last chapter. It was still on Rova when she died (yup, she's very exploded) and it went with her.

And what's with the Wii hate? Mine is well loved and very wonderful, so how dare you imply it would hurt my tv? I stood out in the cold for 5 hours to get mine on release day, and it has been worth every second. Nothing is cooler than actually swinging your sword at Ganon and really blocking him with your shield instead of just pushing buttons. Sorry, I would have to insist that Lingering Fragments be on the Wii. Everything else just pales in comparison now.

Thanks for the encouragement to continue on both my fanfics and original works. Unless plans change, the next thing I write will be original and will be sent off to publishers. This fic was a new level in my writing and I think my next work will be publish worthy. As I'll be heading for publishing, I won't post the story online (I've been told that publishers don't want things that have been online) but maybe I'll toss up a teaser or the prologue. If I do, it'll show up on Fictionpress and Skyehawke, so keep an eye out.

Speaking of Skyehawke, they don't censor so you can find a longer version of this chapter there. If you're underage or if you just don't like things graphic (it's not that graphic, though) stay here and read this version. I didn't remove that much and you won't miss out on any plot important stuff, just character stuff.

I put some last remarks after the end of this chapter, so I guess I'll leave you to read.

Epilogue

I watched as Torsha drew back my bow with careful precision. His intended prey was up on the opposing slope of the little valley we were in, while we were both perched on a rickety bridge on the other side of it. Beneath us ran a happy brook while our horses grazed nearby.

I could have stood passively by and watched him fell the deer. I could have kept my hands behind my back and left Torsha to concentrate… but what fun would that be? Once he had drawn the arrow back and taken aim, I slowly slid an arm around his neck so that my head rested on his shoulder (to watch him fire, of course). Once I was there, though, I decided to go a bit further. As he was about to loose the arrow, I ran my tongue up his throat. Needless to say, the arrow flew very wide. "You missed," I pointed out with a grin.

I got a sharp glare and an elbow to the gut for my trouble. "Jerk," he snarled and I stumbled back from him, laughing while I held my stomach in pain.

I wasn't laughing long though, as I took one step back too far. When my boot hit the edge of the decrepit wood, it split and I fell quickly to the water below with a shout. With my butt planted on the creek bed, I let out a groan. I was looking over my soaked self when I heard a soft laugh from above.

"Looks like you missed the bridge," he said with a wide smile.

_"Looks like you missed the bridge,"_ I echoed back mockingly before I shook my dripping fist at him. This only got me laughed at more and from the bank I heard a nicker from Epona that sounded suspiciously like a chuckle. "You stay out of this!"

It was well more than a year since I'd taken off his mask and we were in Termina once more. Not to visit this time, unfortunately, but just passing through on our way to Hyrule. As predicted, the land of my birth had become an unpleasant place to go since my defeat of the witch. At first only the palace had been a problem, then the surrounding city, and the last time we'd been there we'd rushed from Kakariko five minutes from the entrance.

Everyone knew I was the Hero of Time and had strange ideas about what that entailed. I'd had people ask me for blessings for wealth, to foresee the future, to commune with ancestors, and more. Only the gerudo were the same as they'd been. The last time I had gone to Hyrule a human woman had brought her son to me, thinking I could heal him... when he'd died the day before. I'd stayed away from Hyrule for six months after that incident and only now had Torsha asked to go back and check in on it again.

Still a little damp from the dunking, I continued with him towards the tunnel to Hyrule, but dark was coming up fast. We decided to make camp a few hours from the gateway and cook up the fish we'd caught at the bridge. I was turning the little spit as he finished putting up the tent. When he was finished, he dropped down beside me. "It smells wonderful; is it done yet?"

"Almost. Few more minutes," I replied and he groaned pitifully.

"You're too slow."

I snorted at that. "You're impatient. If I rushed it, it would be either raw or burnt, so unless you want to do it yourself, be quiet."

Torsha pouted a little at that and poked one of the potatoes I had cooking on the fire ring. "You know full well I can't."

"Not unless we want to eat burnt, raw food... again," I said with a smirk and he elbowed me once more.

"Ow! You're abusive."

"You deserve everything you get. We could be having deer tonight," he informed me flatly.

I snickered. "You just need to concentrate better."

"Oh do I?" he asked incredulously and I just laughed as I gave the fish another turn. I had barely taken my hand from the spit when I felt a warm velvety tongue side up the side of my neck to the lobe of my ear. Involuntarily, I shuddered at the sensation and almost knocked the fish into the fire. My reaction won me a soft chuckle against my throat before Torsha pulled back with a grin. "I think you need to concentrate better, as well."

Personally, I thought I concentrated just fine and to show him how focused I could be, I turned and tackled him. His brief yelp of surprise was muffled when I pressed my mouth over his. The sheikah didn't waste anytime at returning my hard, sudden kiss and his lips parted easily when my tongue pressed for entrance. He let out a soft sigh and I responded with a low possessive sound of my own. From my position over him, I pressed my thigh up between his legs. When I ground slowly against him he released my lips to gasp quietly, arching his head back to expose his soft throat.

I took the invitation happily and had begun to kiss along that tender skin when I felt him jump a little beneath me. "The fish! Link!"

"They're fine," I mumbled against him, but he wasn't convinced.

"They're going to burn," Torsha pointed out with a soft laugh and pushed me up off of him.

"So?" I asked innocently but he just rolled his eyes and got out from underneath me. I blinked a moment at the sudden halt to what had been shaping up to be a good bit of sex. "Have I just been turned down for _trout?_"

He laughed softly at me as he pulled the potatoes away from the fire with his dagger.

"I was turned down for trout," I said indignantly. "Is that all I am to you? A cook who happens to warm your bed every so often?"

"The fish are burning, cook," he said as he split one of the potatoes open, fighting off a grin that was trying to spread across his face.

I snorted and pulled them off the spit. "I think I should let you starve... or sleep alone for a while."

At that _he_ snorted. "As if _you'd_ go without."

"Oh, you think I'm helpless but to bow to your every whim at the fear of loosing my bed partner?" I asked as I handed him his half of the skewered fish.

"You forget I went without for more than a century before you came along. I can out last you," he pointed out with a smirk, but the smirk was gone when I snatched his fish out of his hands.

"Oh? Like you can out last me waiting for diner?" I asked innocently as he tried to get it back from me.

"It's getting cold!"

I laughed loudly as he tried crawling into my lap to get it back but I always managed to keep it just out of his grasp. "See? Face it, Torsha, you're a creature of comforts," I said and brought the fish back down for him. "You can't go without me..." I added softly as I bumped my nose to his.

Torsha's already half closed eyes slid shut as he came forward the last inch to kiss me deeply. I wrapped my free hand around his waist, kissing him back slowly. We took our time with the kiss and when we parted he rested his forehead against mine. "I think I can live with that."

I grinned back at him and instead of returning to his seat, he settled more comfortably in my lap, taking his fish from me. "Comfy?" I asked him.

"Very," he replied, leaning his back against my chest. Curled up together, we set into our meals, enjoying the quiet of the evening and each other. In-between bites of fish and potato we stole a kiss here and there and the light kisses followed us all the way into the tent.

Tucked within our canvas home, I pulled his tunic off of him before drawing him close and sucking at his throat. He mewed softly as he pulled up my tunic as well. I drew back from him just long enough for him to tug it off of me before I kissed him heavily. Running my hands up his lean back, I drew him flush against me, but that didn't last for long. "You're over dressed," he murmured against my lips as he pushed back from me to yank off my undershirt.

"You're one to talk," I chuckled back as I removed his shirt as well. I took half a moment to enjoy the sight of him, half dressed, his breathing coming in unsteady pants, and his dark ruby eyes darkened further with lust. It didn't last long, though, as he drew me back to him, kissing me heavily. _Out last me, indeed._

I laid over him, cupping his face with my un-supporting hand before I drug it down his smooth chest. He moaned into my mouth, his fingers threaded into my hair. When I pressed my thigh up between his and resumed my slow grinding, Torsha abandoned my hair to grip my shoulders tightly with trembling fingers. He held my lips as long as he could but soon the sensation was too much for him and threw his head back with a soft cry of pleasure. I loved that sound and it drove me to raise my pace like water driven before the prow of a boat.

Kissing along his throat now, I let my teeth lightly graze the tender skin. His panted cries and moans were becoming more erratic and I was caught up in the rush of my own rising tension when I felt his hands shakily press me away. "Link," he gasped, as if just coming up for air. "Clothes... I can't..." he stammered but I didn't need him to be clearer. I agreed with him completely; a not-so-dry grind wouldn't be as satisfying as something more thorough...

---

The next day we reached the tunnel leading into Hyrule. We joked lightly as we wound down the eerie path but we both pulled our horses to a halt when we reached the crossing over point. I had noticed the earth beneath us was a little muddy, but hadn't thought much of it till we were faced with the source. At first I thought a wall of glass or ice blocked the entrance, but as I watched, the surface of the barrier moved and slow ripples spread out from the tunnel walls. It was like looking down into a well... on it's side.

"What in Din's name..." Torsha whispered as I dismounted.

"It's water... but what's holding it up?" I asked as I walked up to the barrier. I brought up my hand to touch it.

"Don't," he hissed at me as he climbed down as well, but I shook my head.

"It's not like a bubble I'm going to pop," I replied and I put my hand onto the surface of the water. Feeling no resistance, I raked my fingers through the cool liquid. When I pulled my hand back out the drops fell normally from my hand and I sniffed at it. "Sea water," I observed as he stepped up beside me.

"But there is no sea in Hyrule, only the spring and lake." The worry was clear in his voice. I stood there only a moment more before I shrugged off my pack to pull out my zora tunic. "I'll dress down the horses and leave them out by the entrance," he said but I shook my head.

"I'm going in alone at first-"

"What?" he broke in, clearly not liking the idea, but I knew he wouldn't.

"Just to look around and see what's up. I'll be right back but if things go wrong it's better we both don't get caught by it. I'll go in and look and come back. If I'm not back in an hour... come up with some super plan," I finished with a grin but he wasn't smiling. "You're back up, okay?"

He nodded reluctantly and I kissed him a moment before I stepped into the water. I waved to him briefly before I turned and swam down the dark tunnel.

---

An hour slid by, and then another as I sat and watched the barrier of water. So far no "super plans" had come to me and I was getting panicky. Apparently I wasn't the only one feeling anxious for Link; I watched Epona push her muzzle into the water. I had climbed to my feet to pull her back as she plunged her whole head through. With a frustrated snort she yanked it back out again and shook the water from it.

"You can't go through, Epona," I tried to explain but the horse only looked blankly at me. Missing the bond that Link had to her, all I could do was pull her back by her reins and hope she didn't try again. In my plotting I hadn't considered what Epona would do if left behind on her own, but I knew that if she drowned herself trying to reach him, he'd be crushed. Still holding her reins, I stood there and stared into the watery tunnel.

I wasn't Link; I wasn't built for these enormous problems. I was made for simple, direct things. The protection of a single person from real dangers. How was I to know what to do when the tunnel to Hyrule is filled with seawater? I'm ashamed to say that panic had a solid hold on me as time slid by for I don't know how long, but suddenly something kicked into place. There was no time for indecision.

I looked to Epona beside me and turned her from the water. "We need to get something before we go after him, Epona. I know I'm not Link, but please work with me and we'll get you back to him, alright?" That said I mounted her and spurred her out of the tunnel to make for the zora of Termina and a large amount of their cloth.

The end.

Final Notes: Okay, okay, don't kill me. When I wrote this I knew that the epilogue would end like this, hence why I wasn't originally going to release the epilogue. I only have the most general ideas for a sequel so if one gets written, it's not gonna be soon, but my profile should give you a good idea of how long it takes me to put out something new.

I really don't know what happened my one reader, Albel Nox, which is a shame given what I put in this chapter. If someone follows the link in her FF profile to her deviant art account, you'll see some cool pictures of scenes that you'll recognize. The links will show up on Skyehawke but as FF sucks and strips out anything even close to a link, you have to find them on your own. Be sure to check in her scraps too.

Well, thanks again to everyone that read. It was wonderful doing this and hearing how everyone was enjoying it. Cya!


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